A Problem of Pediatric Proportions
by Regashi
Summary: Due to reasons unknown, Lloyd and the others have found that they have shrunk in age and appearance. Now it's a race against time to solve what happened and how to save themselves... before Cruxis gets to them first. Ch.28 up
1. A Tyrannical Temper Tantrum

**Author's Note of Random Jargon: I got the writing bug again, so here we go with a new story and such. Rawr. Anyway, just to let you all know in lieu of people sometimes getting confuzzled over placement, this takes place after the main heroes go through the Regal/Alicia sequence. Also, spoilers run rampant, so people who haven't played the game or been told, cover your eyes, ears and run!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**-Regashi**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS. Wish I did immensely, but reality kicks that wish in the rear. *sigh***

Chapter One: A Tyrannical Temper Tantrum

In the vast depths of Derris Kharlan, silence echoed through the streets of Welgaia, with the occasional flittering of wings by the mindless drones known as the angels. With the exception of the fluttering of feathers, the angels didn't make any sounds as they drifted by on their own set course. They didn't even make footfalls on the cold metallic floor, because it was preferable to float rather than walk. So they all did so. Being a lifeless being did have some benefits, but creativity didn't make the top fifty by any means.

Tranquility was only so wonderful to a point and the persistent silence clanged in the ears of those who still had the capacity to care. None of the standard angels paid mind to it, but there was one person there who noticed how infuriatingly quiet it was.

Yggdrasill, the leader of Cruxis and most powerful being in the worlds, sat on the large throne in the center of Vinheim, his fingers drumming on the arm of the chair, his cheek resting on the other. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, the stillness of Welgaia beating into his temples and forehead.

"....Feh." The blonde angel snorted. Angels shouldn't be annoyed by things this trivial like irritating silence, or at least, that's what he kept repeating in his mind, but strangely enough, it was really getting to him that day. His eyes shifted from left to right and back again, one of them twitching slightly as he did. For some reason that he couldn't explain, he was bored. Bored out of his mind.

"... this isn't supposed to happen. Angels don't get bored." He grunted aloud, knowing full well that no one would respond. In fact, no one had really responded to him about anything at all for over a good week and a half.

No new news had come from Pronyma or Forcystus, since the other three grand cardinals had fallen victim to either their stupidity, greed or both. Operations down on the planets had been proceeding as planned, the last desian ranch was scheduled to send up another shipment of exspheres within a few more weeks, and the rest of the desians were wreaking havoc on the dilapidated world of Sylvarant. To even top it off, Kratos was back into the fray from the journey of regeneration, but had been barely around, if not making himself scarce on purpose.

Yuan hadn't reported on the latest news of the Renegades, though he was starting to have some suspicions that the seraph wasn't exactly trying his hardest to procure information. Yggdrasill snorted again, blonde hair drifting into his eyes.

'I'll have to... talk to him about that.' He sighed to himself, his eyebrows creased into a frown. Flicking his bangs out of his eyes, he got to his feet, stretched and looked around. The vast and extravagant fortress held a lot of things, namely an armored and ferocious dragon, a gigantic organ that stretched to fill most of the space on the wall of the room it occupied, and a series of corridors, caverns and bridges, each with apartments for all that lived there. However, what it definitely lacked was someone with the capacity for a decent conversation. To make matters worse, the only two who did were becoming scarcer by the day.

Yuan was out trying, or not trying, to find out anything he could about the Renegades, and Kratos.. well, Kratos was being Kratos. After the whole ordeal at the Tower of Salvation, the auburn haired seraphim had been spending as little time as he could in Welgaia and Derris Kharlan, and when he was on the comet, he'd always come up with some long and drawn out excuse over why he had to flit off again to either Sylvarant or Tethe'alla.

Yggdrasill sighed and put his fist on his hip, staring up at the purple sky. He shook his head once, trying to clear it, and strolled out of his throne room at top speed, not being able to stand one more moment of piercing silence.

Once out of the audience chamber, Yggdrasill began to draw out his wings but paused as the rainbow appendages of mana came forth. He looked back at them for a moment, and then drew them in again, landing on the marble tiles that made up the main antechamber.

'I'm walking. I'm not letting this silence continue. It's far too irksome.' He stated curtly in his mind and began to walk down the long smooth path that led from his castle to the lower levels of Derris Kharlan. The trip down was quiet, peaceful and relaxing. It was so relaxing that Yggdrasill had to fight the urge not to tear apart every angel he saw with a bolt of purple lightning. Making his way down into the catacombs in the spiraling towers, he would occasionally glance over his shoulder, making sure that no one was following him.

When he reached near the end of the spiraling walkway, Yggdrasill stopped his stalking of the halls and stared at a flat and desolate stretch of wall. The wall in question wasn't any more impressive than the other walls in the tower; in fact, it looked just as dull and dreary as the others. Still, Yggdrasill watched the metallic panels with an avid amount of interest. Glancing over his shoulder once more to make sure that no one was tailing him, he pressed a panel on the side of the blank wall with his palm. At his touch, the panel glowed bright white, as did his palm, and with a jerk, the wall slid to the side. In it's place stood a dark pathway that led down into depths unknown to all, with the exception of the angel lord. Snorting in irritation, Yggdrasill stepped inside the room and began his descent in the darkness, the door sealing behind him.

Once he reached the bottom of the ramp, Yggdrasill strode to the next wall and pressed his hand against the panel at the side of the door. The light from the scanner ran up and down his palm, beeped once and opened the large and ornate polycarbonate door that stood in his path. He smirked once, entered the room and flicked on the light.

What laid before him was a gigantic series of purple, transparent platforms that seemed to float by themselves, seamlessly connecting to one another. They floated in place like clouds in a stationary set of motion, bobbing up and down minutely. Yggdrasill didn't pay them any mind, but instead strode up the floating stairs to the computer that laid in the far back of the room.

The huge machine in question had plated silver and gold rims all around it and lined the back wall. The huge device took up the whole backside of the wall, stretching from the ceiling to rest heavily on the metallic floor. Several feet thick, the huge machine had a wide screen nestled in the center of it's shiny hull, which flickered a vast array of colors. Yggdrasill let out a tired sigh as he approached the control panel and, after locating the switch on the side of the machine, flipped it on. He then collapsed in the metallic and cushioned chair, letting out a contented sigh when he felt his body sink into the plush padding.

The gargantuan machine made a baritone groan, it's screen flickering again with color, but replaced the dots and flickering lights were a series of pictures. Each of the pictures held a small summary about the the above portrait, ranging from 'A teacher with an unnatural display of affection for ruins- very volatile' to 'An inept ninja prone to falling into holes- can also summon- must be kept under watch' to 'An idiot chosen who makes philandering an art form- very annoying'. Underneath each of the pictures sat a platform that looked like a pedestal with a platter placed on top. On the platters of each of the eight pedestals and covered with glass domes, were samples of blood, DNA and, most importantly, mana that had been precariously collected for the Derris Kharlan data base. A complete genetic profile for each of the eight was safely kept in his secret record, though the donors were completely unaware they'd given such a contribution. The fights the bunch of inept idiots had undergone with the papal knights and other agents of Cruxis hadn't been just for show, after all. Research was just as, if not more, important.

Yggdrasill rolled his eyes at the pictures, but let his eyes linger at the picture of the brown haired boy in the middle.

The boy in question was roughly seventeen years of age, with unruly, spiky brown hair, reddish brown eyes and a big, goofy grin. Though he wasn't looking at the camera directly, since the picture had been taken from a hidden angle, he appeared to be laughing as the red headed chosen was being berated by both the volatile teacher and the inept ninja, complete with him being smacked in the head by both. Yggdrasill stared at the picture and shook his head, blonde hair drifting into his eyes.

".... And these are the people who are destroying my plans?" He asked himself tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "....I'm so depressed."

Resting his cheek on his palm, Yggdrasill drummed his fingers on the arm of the control chair and frowned, still staring at the picture that had the words 'Lloyd Irving' blazoned across the bottom rim.

'He has to be getting help. There was no way he would have been able to get that far by himself. No one with that stupid an expression could be that cunning or tactical.' Yggdrasill glared at the name and exhaled sharply. Though he didn't have any proof, a sinking suspicion lingered in his stomach and made his insides run cold like ice.

Kratos.

Kratos had to be helping them. There could be no other explanation for why they hadn't completely fallen victim to any of his traps or trials, let alone not getting lost on what they had to do next. None of those idiots could have managed to figure out where Rodyle had taken the vessel, or even how to not form the pacts with the summon spirits by themselves without at least a swift boot in the right direction. Yggdrasill gripped the chair's arms and practically crushed them in anger, his fingers leaving indentations in the metal.

'That must be it. That would also explain why he's been avoiding me.' The blonde angel snarled in his psyche. His eyes narrowed venomously at the picture on the center of the screen and a low guttural snarl echoed in his throat.

He didn't care too much about whether or not he talked to Yuan, since the two of them had been bickering for over 4000 years, but Kratos was a completely different story. As much as he was wary of Kratos' wavering loyalty towards him and Cruxis, not to mention the incident that happened fifteen to twenty years prior, he couldn't help, but be fond of the older seraphim's presence. He felt somewhat more at ease whenever Kratos was around and making difficult decisions became more of a trifle than the ordeal it really was. Deep down, he was still the same little boy who had idolized the older swordsman with reckless abandon.

And it was that idolization that made Yggdrasill's eyes glow green with envy as he stared long and hard at the face of the brown haired boy in the center of the screen, surrounded by the portraits of his friends. He couldn't stand the idea of Kratos liking someone else more than him, and to make matters worse, if he was secretly helping Lloyd on the side, it would be undeniable proof that he did like him more than Yggdrasill.

"... Lloyd Irving..." He growled, his eyes narrowing, as he watched the still image stare back at him. "... you were lucky those renegade rats showed up. If they had been one step too late, you would NOT be in my way any longer."

The seething angelic lord got out of the chair, approached the screen carefully and traced a finger around the jaw line of the picture of Lloyd. He did look a great deal like Kratos in most respects, and if he grew his hair longer, he would be practically his clone. Though, Kratos rarely smiled and, as he got older, the smiles he did have became scarcer by the year. The fact Lloyd smiled quite a lot made it much easier for him to distinguish them as different people entirely.

Yggdrasill took his hand away from the picture like he'd been burned and clenched his hand into a fist.

"Just one chance... I only need one.. just one chance and I'll get rid of you once and for all.." He grimaced. "You just wait, Lloyd Irving. One chance and I'll make sure that Kratos will never have a reason to leave again."

Turning on his heel, he stomped from the room, the pictures on the screen still smiling at him.

'I've got to clear my head..' Yggdrasill groaned to himself. '... I'll go see Martel.. that always helps.' With that, he stalked from the room, the picture of Kratos' son still etched in his mind.

* * *

"And that's what's happened so far Martel." Yggdrasill, now in his original Mithos form, sat cross legged in front of the great seed, which bobbed up and down in the desolate hall. The hall of the great seed was Mithos' special haven. Only members of the Cruxis high order could open the door at all and, by locking the door with his key, there wasn't any chance that either Kratos or Yuan getting in without him knowing about it. Plus, he'd placed a chair in front of the door to slow anyone down just in case. The chair didn't provide much of a defense against intruders, but it made him feel better nonetheless.

Even though the spirit of Martel couldn't say anything in reply, whenever Mithos would feel stressed, bored, lonely or all three, he'd talk, rant or cry at the seed until he felt better. It was more therapeutic than anything else in Derris Kharlan and it was the 4000 year old boy's best way of stress relief, regardless if whether or not she could respond.

"That guy.. Lloyd.. he's ruining everything." he reported. "Not only did he blow up two ranches and ruin the third one, not to mention talk that inept ninja into making pacts with MY summon spirits, he ran off with the vessel. Your vessel, Martel!" Mithos stood up.

"Do you know how long that took to make?! Sixteen years, sixteen long, excruciating years and he just waltzed in and took it!" He snapped, his blonde hair flowing about his face. "And I just know that one would have worked! Her mana signature's almost a perfect match to yours. But now we're on hold now because he's just decided that it's not okay. What does he mean, 'it's not okay'?!" Mithos was starting to flush.

"The vessel was okay with it, the angels and the desians were okay with it, I'm STILL okay with it, the church was okay with it, why is it that just because he's not okay with it, he has the right to screw up years of my hard work?! Who asked him anyways?!" The boy's face was turning bright red. "And now we're chasing them all over the stupid planets because we need the vessel for you and he doesn't wanna share!"

Mithos glared at the ceiling. Though the ceiling didn't recoil at his icy stare as he would have liked, he could just see the picture of Lloyd smiling back at him, completely unaware of how much Mithos was revolted by his mere existence. The young boy felt his insides flop and slosh over and, for the first time in years, he wanted to throw up.

"It's... it's not fair." He murmured as he looked up at the imaginary picture of Lloyd. Each moment he stared at grinning portrait of Lloyd, the angrier he grew. He was trying to take Kratos away again... take him away from Mithos. Even if Lloyd didn't know he was doing so, it was pretty obvious to Mithos that Kratos was leaning more towards Lloyd, which meant he was turning his back on his first student.

"No... no.. he's not getting him. I was here first.. first..." He grumbled under his breath, his hands balled into fists.

He stomped his foot angrily on the ground and looked up at Martel's soul that occupied the great seed, his eyes watery.

"I'm trying to do what we wanted, YOU wanted, Martel, for the world and yet no one's siding with me! It's not fair!" His eyes began to leak tears which dripped off his nose. "I.. I..." Mithos wiped his face with his arm.

"I just want.... my age of lifeless beings... is that so much?!" He demanded, his face red and his eyes bloodshot. "I'm doing it so everyone will be happier, but no one understands that and...."

Mithos sniffed again and rubbed his nose with his white cape, his purple bracelets clinking together as he did.

"They blew up my ranches! Those were mine!" He cried. "And they're ruining everything! I worked so hard on all of that and they're ruining everything! The Renegades, Lloyd, everyone!"

Mithos paused and Genis' picture crossed into his mind, his happy blue eyes staring back at him while he proclaimed that they were 'great friends'. Mithos sniffed a bit and smiled.

"... well... not everyone... Genis isn't." He corrected himself. "He's just getting led along by Lloyd. I mean, Lloyd gets them in so much trouble all the time and for what? Nothing, that's what! It's not like his plans are going to work or anything. He's just going around being stupid..." Mithos rubbed his face with his arm.

"... Lloyd gets Genis AND Kratos all to himself." He glared, his fists balled up as he stared at the floor. "It's not fair!"

"I was his student first, I was here FIRST! Doesn't that matter anymore?!" He demanded, the lights around the chamber of the great seed flickering wildly. "I've known him longer than anyone else and now Lloyd thinks he can come in and take him away from me?! That's not happening!"

In his irate fury, Mithos' gigantic technicolor wings erupted from his back and lifted him into the air. Though, Mithos didn't notice. He was too buried in his raging stupor.

"I... won't let that happen.." He muttered, his eyes turning a blood red.

"I WON'T LET HIM TAKE KRATOS AWAY FROM ME!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his face. Mana rushed out of his body and blinded the whole room, while sounds of equipment exploding and shorting out echoed through the chamber. The floor began to shake violently due to Mithos' despairing anger and chunks of the ceiling came crashing to the floor, purple light from Welgaia's sky shining into the room.

Outside, soulless angels fell into each other and were torn from their set paths and routines as the whole comet of Derris Kharlan shook in powerful tremors. Even Yuan, who'd been looking up some information about the mysterious earthquakes that had been occurring in Tethe'alla, was thrown off his feet and into a refresher.

"What.. what's going on?!" He breathed, holding onto the side of the cleansing machine with all the strength he could muster. "Don't tell me there are quakes going on here too?!"

* * *

In the lower chasm of Welgaia, a series of bizarre sounds echoed from behind a blank set of stone. Down the path of darkness and into the secret study of Yggdrasill, a cornucopia of colors leaked from underneath the door crevice.

Inside, the gigantic machine was racing out of control, lights spurring and whirring throughout the room. The mana was becoming so thick inside the chamber, anyone with normally good vision would have had to squint to see their way through the room.

The computer sputtered and glowed brightly in an array of colors as the pictures of each person flickered in and out. The computer's large screen began to flash violently and so did the pictures as they faded in and out. As they did, the samples of each person glowed brightly under the glass domes and pulsed in the thick, mana ridden air. As if on cue, each of the mana samples floated off the platters they had rested on and one by one, they began to warp and morph, each glowing a rainbow of colors. They continued to float up off the platter and pressed tightly against the glass domes, begging to get out and pounding on their glass prisons. More mana pulsed into the room and with a crash, all of the domes that covered the mana samples burst into a thousand glass shards, littering the floor as they fell victim to gravity.

Once the mana samples were loose, each genetic sample floated into the air and began to morph violently, changing from shape to shape, all the while glowing vivid reds, blues, yellows, greens and purples. As they melted into different states and shapes, each of the samples began floating in a large circle slowly, each sample following the other like a lopsided game of tag. The game of tag sped up, the mana samples moving faster and faster, until the eight samples looked like one big spiraling ring of chaos. Faster and faster they spun, a spectrum of color blurring the whole ring and blinding the whole room in the process.

As it continued to rapidly spin out of control, the circling ring of light sucked all of the mana that had filled the room and added to the sheer power of the floating centrifuge. With a piercing shriek of power, the rapid ring of samples retracted and, with a final bang, exploded.

The explosion hit the main computer in the room with the force of a speeding rheaird, and smoke billowed out from behind the panels, the circuits frying like bacon. The screen began to fade, flickering to show Lloyd's face one more time, and letting out a final groan, collapsed in on itself.

**Authors Note:**

**Me: Alrighty, there we go. First chapter done. **

**Genis: I smell foreshadowing...**

**Presea: No, you're just on fire.**

**Genis: GAH! *runs around trying to put it out***

**Me: Well, while they try to put out the fire, I'll get started on the next chapter.**

**Lloyd: *uses fire extinguisher on Genis* Please review!**


	2. Earth Shattering Changes

**Author's Note: **

**Me: Okay, while I wrote stuff, Lloyd managed to put out the fire that was Genis.**

**Genis: ... ow.**

**Me: Poor Genis. Anyway, let's get on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, 'cause if I did, we'd be able to get all of the costumes. Seriously, I want those costumes. They're too awesome to ignore.**

Chapter Two: Earth Shattering Changes

Meanwhile, in the flourishing world of Tethe'alla, the Gaoracchia forest held quite a number of things. Monsters, traps, a series of winding paths, a stray bandit here and there, a patch of light or two, but not a whole lot else. However, though it was most unusual for the forest, a series of pattering footsteps echoed through the dark wood of Gaoracchia.

"Achoo!" Lloyd sneezed violently into his arm. Colette looked over her shoulder pad at Lloyd and tilted her head to the side.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" She asked, her voice concerned. Genis glanced up from where he'd been attempting to engage Presea in conversation and grimaced.

"Yeah, Lloyd, you sound like you're trying to explode your brains out your nose." He commented with a wry grin. Lloyd frowned at Genis and rubbed his nose.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I just..I.... ah... ACHOO!" He sneezed violently again into his sleeve, the corners of his eyes watering. Raine turned around, marched over to the brunette boy and put a hand on his forehead.

"You don't have a fever, so I doubt you are getting anything." She diagnosed sternly, her voice serious, but with hints of concern laced around the edges.

"Perhaps... Lloyd should sit down." Presea suggested quietly.

"That might be wise." Regal agreed. Lloyd shook his head, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Hey, you guys, I'm just fine. I just had to sneeze is all." He replied reassuringly. "Trust me on that. I swear I'm not going to keel over from sneezing."

"Maybe he's got allergies to something." Genis ignored Lloyd's pleads of normalcy and put his hands on his hips. "You could have hay fever."

"But I'm fine-"

"You could also be being talked about." Sheena suggested as she walked along. Lloyd looked over at her with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?" He asked, eyebrow calked.

"It's an old Mizuho superstition." Zelos replied, pulling at a piece of Lloyd's hair and watching it spring back into place.

"It's not a superstition, you stupid chosen!" Sheena protested hotly. "It's true and you know it!"

"Whatever you say, Miss Jubblies." Zelos winked at her and continued to mess with Lloyd's hair. Lloyd annoyedly batted his hand away and looked back at Sheena.

"How does it work with the sneezing?" He asked. Sheena looked triumphantly smug at Zelos and then rested her hands on her hips.

"It's pretty simple. See, when you sneeze, that means that someone is talking about you. One sneeze is pretty much just you're the topic of the conversation." She explained, her black hair bouncing as she nodded. "Two sneezes means that what they're saying isn't... very good."

"Okay." Lloyd nodded, following along as Zelos resumed fiddling with Lloyd's spiky locks of hair. Lloyd snorted in annoyance, but didn't bat him away a second time. Batting him away always made Zelos more adamant on annoying him more.

"Go on." He sighed. Sheena grinned happily.

"Well, three sneezes means whoever's talking about you has a... crush on you." She got red in the face and pressed both of her index fingers together. Lloyd raised an eyebrow at her, but shrugged and shook it off.

"And four sneezes?" He asked curiously. Zelos laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Means you've got allergies, Bud."

"Great. That's just what I need." Lloyd sighed tiredly, but paused. He thought back to his sneezes and glanced at the ninja.

"Wait, I sneezed twice, so that means that whatever they were talking about was 'not good'..." He thought for a moment aloud and blinked at her.

"When you said 'not good', how do you mean?" Lloyd asked. "What kind of 'not good'?"

Sheena sighed a little.

"If you sneeze twice, whoever's talking about you can't stand you at all and they're ranting about you and how much they hate you and stuff like that."

Lloyd's eyes widened and he rubbed his nose with his sleeve.

"... oh, okay." He blinked.

"Okay? You found out that someone's hating you right now and that's all you can say?!" Genis asked incredulously. Lloyd shrugged.

"It's okay. You can't go through life without at least someone hating you." He replied, despite the heaviness of his voice. Rubbing his eye with his left gloved hand, he trekked down the path, hands shoved into his pockets.

Zelos watched him go and then looked over at Sheena.

"Good going, Melons. Now you've got Bud in a funk." He flipped his red hair over his shoulder.

"Hey, I didn't do it!" Sheena protested and smacked Zelos in the head. "And don't call me 'Melons'!"

"Yeow!" Zelos groaned in pain. "What, can I help that your chest is kinda a hard thing to miss? I mean, come on! It's got it's own zip code-"

"Stupid Chosen!" Sheena pounded the top of Zelos' head, which in turn led to a loud shriek from Zelos, who clutched his head in agony. Colette, completely oblivious to the beating that Zelos was receiving, watched Lloyd trudge down the path and sighed.

"Poor Lloyd.." She said, her voice wrack with worry. Genis watched with her and nodded.

"Yeah. I know he puts on a tough front, but it's gotta hurt to know that someone hates you that much-"

"Hey, what happened to it being a stupid superstition from Mizuho-" Zelos cut in, but no one paid attention.

"Perhaps we should talk to Lloyd about it." Regal suggested, pointing to a small clearing in the forest. Raine nodded and set down her staff.

"Yes, we should. For the time being however, let's set up camp for the night. It's getting late as it is." She stated firmly as she sat down on one of the logs and pulled out a recipe book.

"Now, what should I make tonight?" She asked herself aloud she flipped a page of the book.

The rest of the heroes froze in sheer horror, including Lloyd, who was a good ten feet away at that point.

"Uh... Sis, why don't I make some food tonight?" Genis suggested hastily, rushing forward to take the book away from his sister. Raine glanced up at him and glowered.

"Are you inadvertently suggesting that you do not wish to eat my cooking?" She asked in a deadly voice. Genis recoiled like he'd been slapped and shook his head.

"N-no, that's not it." He countered, "You've just been so busy healing everybody, I thought I'd give you a break."

Raine relaxed a bit and smiled at Genis.

"I see. Well then, perhaps you should cook." She handed him the book. "I am feeling a bit tired." Genis let out a sigh of relief that she bought his flat out lie, as did the rest of the party, and got to work cooking. Presea and Regal left to gather some firewood, returning with quite an armload between the pair of them. As they did, Colette and Sheena were in a discussion over the best summon spirit, Colette on the stance that Gnome was the best because of his spinning bow and Sheena on Undine because she had helped them numerous times in the past. Raine rested against the nearby tree, nose deep in one of the books she'd 'rescued' from the Tower of Mana and Zelos was making several comments as Genis cooked the recipe he'd chosen, cream stew. Said comments resulted in Zelos getting a kendama to the face.

Lloyd sat by himself on the far corner of the log, his eyes staring deep into the fire. He rested his cheek into the red glove of his right hand and let out a sigh. Even though he'd never admit to the others, the idea of someone hating him that much to make him sneeze twice really had bothered him, more than he thought it should have. He knew that the people of Iselia did have a right to hate him, since it was his fault that their town had been practically destroyed, and he knew that Chocolat hated him for what happened to Marble, but still. Just because he could see why it could be justified didn't make him feel any better. His cherry brown stained eyes lingered on the licking and lapping flames of the campfire.

By the time the cream stew was ready, twilight settled firmly in the trees and broken through the Gaoracchia forest's boughs, orange and yellow bouncing about the path. As Genis passed out the bowls of food, he noticed that Lloyd was still staring at that spot in the fire, not having moved for the good part of an hour.

"Man, what's he thinking about?" He asked Raine as he passed a bowl to Presea. "It's not like him to think this hard about anything." Raine glanced over at Lloyd and shook her head.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps what Sheena said about the sneezing is bothering him quite a lot." She mused. Zelos snorted and silently rested his hand palm up where Sheena's spot next to him on the log was.

"Heck, I coulda told you that." He replied candidly. "Oh wait. I did. Bud's in a funk because of what 'Miss Jubblies' told him about the sneezing stuff. Can't say I blame him, though." He looked over at Lloyd and then back at the others.

"It's never fun to find out that someone hates you with a passion." He added, his voice uncharacteristically serious.

Though, not even the smell of the food, nor the sound of Zelos being creamed for putting his hand where Sheena aimed to sit, broke Lloyd out of his thoughtful stupor. He sat there, not noticing the food that had been given to him by Colette. He was too focused on figuring who the mystery loather was. He had made a good many enemies on his travels, sure, but he what he couldn't figure was who would hate him that thoroughly. Maybe the grand cardinals could, but three of them were already dead and he hadn't had much contact with the other two. Besides, the main grand cardinal that hated him with an undying amount of passion was just a pile of dust now. Nothing more, nothing less.

Lloyd smirked to himself at the thought of blowing up Kvar into a million pieces, but shook his head. Dead people couldn't talk, he knew that much, but still. Who could hate him that thoroughly?

Lloyd blinked and broke his gaze from the fire to look up at the sky instead.

'It couldn't be... Kratos.. could it?' He asked himself. 'I mean... I know we're enemies... but... I don't... want to think of him as one...not that I like him or anything, of course.' He snorted to himself and folded his arms, the bowl of cream stew at his side cold and forgotten. He let out a sigh and rested his chin on his arms as he stared into the fire again.

'.. it probably was him. It's not like I'd be surprised.' He murmured in his mind. 'I mean, he's our enemy. He's supposed to hate me...' Lloyd let out a tired sigh and rubbed his temples with his left hand.

'I know that, but... why does it bother me so much?' He turned his back to the food and looked off into the sky again. '... maybe I'm just going crazy or something-'

"Hey, Lloyd, you alive in there?" A loud voice called over the din of his thoughts. Startled, Lloyd jumped and whipped around to see who had called him, and in the process, his arm hit his bowl of cream stew sharply. The stew went flying into the air and landed with a crash onto the dirt floor of the forest, it's contents splashing out of the bowl and all around.

"Ack!" Lloyd froze when his eyes locked on his spilled dinner. Zelos paused and grinned at Lloyd.

"Dude, I wanted to get your attention, not shower us with cream stew." He joked. Lloyd glowered at him, but got up to clean up the mess he'd made. The stew had splattered all over the campsite, and it was a minor miracle that the bowl itself hadn't been shattered by the impact.

"Lloyd's thoughts must have been very deep." Presea reported mechanically, her axe on her lap and her favorite sharpening stone in her hand as she worked at fixing the razor edge. "That would result in his startled reaction at being shaken from them." Genis looked at Lloyd and laughed.

"Yeah, but this is Lloyd we're talking about. I'm not sure if he can have thoughts that are deeper than the average wading pool." He joked. Presea stared at Genis with flat eyes.

"Genis... that was not nice." She said sternly, her pink pigtails swishing as a gust of wind went by. Genis' happy expression instantly shifted to one of horror and his face grew beet red.

"I-I'm sorry, P-presea, I didn't mean to-" He stammered out an apology, but Presea shook her head.

"You do not need to apologize to me." She replied, her flat affect in her voice growing flatter by the moment. "It is Lloyd to whom you should apologize. He was the one who you insulted." Genis swallowed hard and looked over at Lloyd, who was wiping up the cream stew.

"Lloyd... I'm sorry." the small half elf boy looked at the ground. Lloyd blinked and looked up at Genis.

"Huh? You say something?" He asked. Genis nodded.

"Yeah. I, uh... I'm sorry I made fun of you." He murmured, his silver hair falling into his face. Lloyd raised an eyebrow at Genis and grinned broadly.

"Oh, okay." Lloyd replied as he continued to wipe up the stew. "I didn't hear what you'd said, so you're forgiven." He added cheerily as he picked up the bowl that once held cream stew.

"As long as it wasn't too mean, 'course." He added, grinning at Genis. Running a hand through his spiky brown hair, Lloyd let out a breath and smiled at the sky. Genis still looked nervous, as he looked at Presea to see if that was enough to get back into her good graces. Presea nodded once and went back to sharpening her axe. Letting out a happy sigh of relief, Genis rested heavily on the log, shifting his weight back and forth as he did.

Lloyd, now back in his thoughts, watched the skyline turn from yellow to orange and shook his head. It probably wasn't important who'd made him sneeze, but still he did have a vast bank of curiosity.

'Ah, well. I'll figure it out tomorrow.' He murmured to himself. 'Sleep now, think later.' Turning on his heel, he faced the others, who'd finished their stew at that point and smiled.

"It's going to get pretty dark soon. We should probably get to sle-" Lloyd began to say, but was cut off as a large tremor surged through the sky and shook the ground. The trees waved like strips of paper being blown by a fan, and everything looked like it was made of rippling water.

Genis tumbled off the back of the log and landed sharply in the tall grass, and Presea dug the edge of her axe into the ground so she could hold on. Raine clung to the tree she was next to, while Regal had planted himself firmly against the trunk of another tree, leaning against it with all he could. Zelos fell on his face into the ground, Sheena landing sharply on his back, which gained a groan of half pain, half happiness from the chosen on the earth. Colette clung to the log she sat on, but when the log shifted out of place, so did Colette. The log and the blonde chosen swung backwards, which resulted in Colette landing in the bush behind her, the log following suit.

"Wh-what's happening?!" Lloyd called as he clung to the earth, the ground rippling and shaking.

"I d-dunno. Do you t-think a m-mana link c-could have been severed?" Sheena shouted back as the rumbling from the sky and the earth grew louder.

"I don't t-think s-so." Raine yelled, the tree she was clinging to now letting branches fly downward and strike the ground below. "Y-You're the only summoner w-we've heard of so f-far-"

"B-but that d-doesn't r-rule it out or a-anything!" Genis yelled from out of the tall grass. Regal looked up at the branches of the trunk of the tree he was using as a stabilizer.

"P-perhaps, but until we d-discuss the p-possibility with Y-yuan, I believe w-we should hold o-off our s-suspicions." Regal stated as the ground continued to shake. It began to grow stronger and more powerful by the minute, Lloyd barely able to keep himself sitting.

After what seemed like an eternity, the quakes started to subside, enough so that Lloyd managed to sit up and run a glove through his hair and brush it out of his face.

"Whatever that was, I'm glad that's over." He breathed happily, his brown hair flipping out of his face as he did.

Lloyd spoke far too soon. Just as he'd finished his gleeful report, the quake began anew, this time with a greater power than before and rattled the ground with a vengeance. As it did, a searing pain ripped through his abdomen and spread through the rest of his body like wildfire. He doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach and landing back on the ground, overcome with too much agony. He tried letting out a scream, but all that came was a small squeak from his strained voice box. His muscles were burning and thousands of needles gouged every inch of his body, making him shake in tremendous pain. Tears began to leak out of his eyes, though they were clenched shut, and his throat began to pulsate as he raggedly drew breath.

"Lloyd!" Genis yelled, hopping over the log to get to his writhing friend, but he didn't get far. A sensation of bones knots being tied into animal balloon shapes caught him in midair, and he fell flat on his face. He twisted on the ground in blinding pain and let out a shrill cry before he fell unconscious from the white hot tearing his body was going through. Even though he was out for the count, his body still shook and twisted involuntarily. Raine tried running to her brother's aid, but too fell to her knees, a numbingly cold burning taking over her own senses. One by one, each of Lloyd's companions began to shake, burn and sear with unadulterated agony, until each had succumbed to the relieving darkness of unconsciousness. Colette, overtaken by a blue blazing fever, passed out onto the ground, the grass around her body turning brown and crunchy within minutes of her landing. Sheena, slumped against Zelos, violently shook, and Zelos began to turn blue, icy breath coming from his lips as he laid there. Presea, still gripping her broad axe, moaned in unconscious pain, her face and small body sweating and twitching every so often, but not as much as Sheena did. Regal, one of the longest to last, laid flat on his back, the cuffs binding his hands growing hot to the touch, as did the rest of his body.

Lloyd, who was barely conscious, managed to look up from where his face had been mashed into the dirt and glanced up at the sky.

".. ugh.. help... we need help...." He groaned softly, his eyes lingering on the rest of his friends as they laid on the ground, each twitching in pain. Biting back another silent yell of agony, Lloyd's vision began to blur and he blinked, his eyelids like lead.

'... wha?' he blinked, his head pounding and the blood pulsing in his ears. Though he couldn't move or even think straight, Lloyd could have sworn he saw each of his friends begin to glow a cornucopia of colors and be engulfed by pure light energy.

'... light.. but.. why?' He gasped some air and then hit the ground, out cold.

* * *

Darkness.

That's all Lloyd saw as he looked around from inside his eyelids. He didn't move them out of fear it would hurt, but at the same time, he felt numb, like someone had injected him with a tranquilizer. It didn't feel so bad.. maybe five more minutes wouldn't hurt anything.....

"-oyd... Lloyd, we know you're in there. Wake up!

Cold.

Cold hands were touching Lloyd's face. That's about as much as he knew. They were cold, they were hands and they were touching his face.

"Lloyd, Lloyd wake up!"

Groaning softly, Lloyd peeked an eye open and blinked gently. A pair of bright blue eyes about an inch from his nose were staring back at him, and a pair of silver eyebrows frowned, nestling into the blue eyes.

"Lloyd, get up and stop wasting time!"

Lloyd groaned, blinked his eyes to get the forced sleep out of them and sat up. Looking up at the sky, he noticed that the darkness was completely gone, having been replaced with budding streaks of yellows and oranges of a new morning. He rustled around where he sat and blinked. Around his body were blankets, lots of blankets.

'Blankets?' He asked himself. 'What are blankets doing on me? It's summer, so why-'

"Lloyd, focus!" A high pitched yell sounded in front of him. Jumping slightly, he turned his head to see who'd yelled at him and paused, his jaw dropping open.

Standing in front of him with his hands on his hips stood a very young boy, no older than four, glaring down at Lloyd. He was wearing a belled out blue and white jacket that reached down to his wrists, with a very long set of matching blue pants that just missed his ankles. He wasn't wearing shoes, but his spiky silver hair glistened with oranges and silvers as he stared down at Lloyd.

The boy, strangely enough, looked like Genis, but Lloyd wasn't sure it could be Genis. Genis wasn't that short, nor did his clothes fit him like a loose sack dress. Plus, when did his voice get that high?

"Lloyd, pay attention!" He yelled, his shirt reaching down to his wrists like a baggy bell. "We've got a serious problem here and-"

"Hold on Genis, I-" Lloyd began, but froze in mid sentence. Clamping a hand over his mouth, Lloyd's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he swallowed hard.

"... I... You... my.. my voice..." He tested out his voice, which was much higher, though no where nearly as high as Genis'. "What happened to my voice?!"

"Probably what happened the rest of you, Bud." Another boy's voice replied. Lloyd whirled around to see a seven year old boy with a shock of red hair, who was wearing what looked like pink dress. He'd rolled up his white pants several times up the cuffs and tightened the brown belt around his waist two times over to keep his pants from falling down. Behind him sat a pair of shoes and a pair gloves had been neatly tucked into the side of the belt.

"..Ze...Zelos?" Lloyd asked as he stared at the new boy. The boy did a dramatic bow and grinned wryly at him.

"In the flesh..." Zelos looked down at himself. "..Well, sort of." Lloyd readjusted himself in his blankets and eyed Zelos.

"What.. what happened to you?" He asked. Zelos snorted and hooked a thumb at Lloyd.

"Same thing that happened to you, Bud." He replied as he pointed to a bucket of water. Lloyd watched him in confusion, but made to get up and go look at the water anyway. However, when he stood up, the blankets wrapped around him tripped him up and he fell back down, flat on his face.

".. ugh... ow." He groaned, as Zelos laughed raucously, his red hair bouncing about his face.

"Floor: 5, Bud: 0." He laughed as he walked over to help up Lloyd. Lloyd sighed as he let Zelos help him up and walked over gingerly to the bucket of water. Shaking his head, Lloyd peered into the bucket, a strand of his chestnut hair drifting into his face.

A boy of five, maybe six, stared back at him, brown spiky hair and shining brown eyes locked on Lloyd. Lloyd swallowed hard. So did the boy. Lloyd brought up a hand and waved at the bucket. So did the boy. Lloyd looked like he wanted to pass out. So did the boy.

"Wha.. wha.. what happened to me?!" He demanded at the bucket, the boy in the bucket yelling back at him as well, wanting to know the same thing. As he stared at his new reflection, a long tube of red trailed down his wrist and rested gently in the bucket, soaking up a bit of the water. Lloyd looked over at the red cloth tube in the water and then stared down at himself.

The blankets that Lloyd thought he'd been wearing weren't really blankets at all. They were his clothes. His once custom made red shirt, made by his foster father Dirk, barely fit him at all and looked like he was draped in a gigantic crimson smock. The white tails on his shirt collar sat on the dirt below and didn't even bother at trying to billow in the wind. The smock reached past his knees and only his small pale shins showed out from under the rim. It was at that point that he realized that when he had fallen, he'd fallen out of his boots and consequently out of his pants as well.

"Where.. where are my pants?!" He exclaimed, his eyes scanning frantically for the lost pair. Zelos pointed to the heap of clothing near him and laughed.

"Over here, Bud." He called cheerily. "Y'know, you should keep track of that kinda thing. Don't want people getting the wrong idea and all that." He picked up the pants and dangled them in the air, laughing as he did.

Lloyd stalked over to him and snatched the oversized pair of pants out of his hands, which made Zelos laugh even harder. Sitting down on the ground curtly, Lloyd put them on, though they were about fifteen sizes too big for him and tucked the shirt into the pants. Once he'd adjusted the suspenders so they hopefully wouldn't let his pants fall down, he rolled up the legs so they were up to his knees, which resulted in some of the biggest fabric cuffs in history. He then did the same with his sleeves so they reached his wrists and retrieved the red gloves he usually wore. There wasn't a chance of the gloves fitting him with his small hands, so he put his exsphere on his left hand and tucked the gloves into his belt loops.

Once he was done, Lloyd sat next to the now dead campfire and looked over at Genis and Zelos.

"Hey, where're the others?" He asked, glancing around. Zelos shrugged and dusted off his arm.

"Dunno, really. Professor took the tiny angel, little one and Miss Jubblies into the other part of the forest. Said not to follow. Girl stuff and all that." He sighed. "And Pops was gonna get firewood-"

"I'd hardly like to think that I'm still the age to be called 'Pops'." A young boy's voice sounded from behind Lloyd. Lloyd wheeled around to see an eleven year old boy with blue hair carrying what looked like a pile of firewood.

"Regal?" Lloyd asked. The boy nodded and put the pile down next to the fire.

"Yes, that's my name." He replied. "Though, my appearance is less than helpful in distinguishing me." Regal had done the exact same thing that Zelos had in an attempt to make due with the clothes he had. He still wore the muscle shirt, but it was just a baggy normal shirt at that point and he'd belted his pants on several times in order to keep them on. Rolled up cuffs on the bottom of his pants showed that he too had been forced to abandon his boots, but there was one thing that caught Lloyd offguard.

"Hey, what happened to your cuffs?" The small boy pointed to Regal's wrists. Regal sighed and held up a huge pair of cuffs with his right hand.

"They've become far too large for my wrists." He replied, his voice pained. "Try as I may, I can't keep them on. I will have to procure a new set as soon as possible." Zelos raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, I don't think they make them that small-" He replied, but stopped when he heard what sounded like a stampede of monsters rumbling down the forest path.

"Stampede of wild buffalo! DUCK!" Zelos called frantically and dove for the ground. Lloyd did as well, but when he looked up, he saw four pairs of eyes, all of them female, and all of them young, staring back at them from the opening of the campsite.

"Oh, it's the girls. Close enough." Zelos called to Lloyd, which made two of the girls glare at him, one with spiky silver hair and the other with black hair in a fierce and wild ponytail. The youngest girl, a five year old girl with blonde hair and round blue eyes smiled at them all and waved to Lloyd. Lloyd blinked, staring at her, and waved back.

"Oh, shut up, Zelos. Now's not the time." The six old girl with the black hair replied, her arms folded over her completely flat chest.

"We don't time for your stupidity." The seven year old girl with the silver hair added, her eyes searing with impatience. "Now, we need to sit down and figure out what happened to us before we do anything else."

"I concur." The last nodded. Lloyd turned to look and his eyebrows reached the roof when he saw her. Presea looked practically the same, though she was a tad shorter and hadn't fully been able to fit into her dress as well. She looked to be about nine, but not much else had changed, not even her voice.

'Huh.. weird.' Lloyd blinked, but shrugged it off and looked at the others. From what he could tell, the other girls had done the same things with their clothes, rolling up the sleeves of their jackets and pant legs, their shoes forgotten. Poor Colette looked like she'd been draped in a huge robe of fabric which trailed all the way down to ripple on the earth. However, Zelos was much more preoccupied with the fact that 'Miss Jubblies' wasn't so 'jubbly' anymore.

"But, but Sheena-" Zelos whined and patted her chest. "They're.. they're gone-"

"Don't do that!" Sheena pounded Zelos into the ground and stomped on his back with her foot. "Just because I'm six doesn't mean I can't wipe the floor with you!"

".. *sniff*.. I'm telling..." He fake pouted. Regal let out a sigh and sat down on the log next to Genis, who was rifling through one of Raine's books. Colette tried to move over to Lloyd, but she kept tripping on her dress and landing face first in the dirt when she did.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Raine called as she stood on top of a stump. Lloyd looked up from where he sat, as did Genis, Regal, Presea, Sheena, Colette, and, with some effort, since Sheena was sitting on his back with his leg in a twisted lock, Zelos. Sheena, kicking Zelos in the side for good measure, trotted next to Colette, sat down and grinned at her, earning a smile in return.

Groaning, the red headed chosen got up, rubbing his ankle, and walked over to next to Lloyd, sitting down with a thud. Lloyd could have sworn he heard a clicking sound come from Zelos when he sat, but his thoughts were shaken away when he heard Raine ranting on the stump.

"Now that everyone is conscious, we need to discuss what to do from here. Also, I'm guessing that probably those quakes did something to affect how we look. It can't be a coincidence that we know are all the size and age of school children. Whatever caused it so far, we don't know. But there must be a reason that is related to those quakes. There's no other explanation."

"Yeah, and Sheena's flat as a board, which royally sucks-"

"Shut it, you stupid chosen!" Sheena smacked Zelos with one of her cards.

"I saw all of you glow weird colors before I passed out. That could have something to do with it, right? Maybe like weird mana or something?" Lloyd added as he fidgeted with his sleeve.

"Perhaps." She replied. "First thing's first though. We need to get out of this forest as soon as possible."

"Where should we go from there?" Sheena asked. "Mizuho's nearby."

"As is Altessa and Ozette." Presea added. Raine thought for a moment.

"Perhaps both would be good stops. If we stop at Mizuho first, then we could probably gain some help with finding out information regarding our new status as children, though our minds seem to coincide with our previous forms." The half elf child mused. "After that, perhaps Altessa would be good to see, if what happened to us was a result of an exsphere malfunction."

"And we'll be able to see him too!" Genis added, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was very eager to see Mithos again, and couldn't wait when he found out that they'd be going to Altessa's.

"But won't that take days?" Zelos asked. "And we can't use the rheairds because we're all too short. We'll have to walk."

"Then that's what we'll have to do." Raine announced loudly, her high voice ringing in everyone's ears.

Lloyd rubbed the outside of his ear and looked at his miniature professor. As he did, his little stomach growled with hunger and demanded that he feed it or suffer the consequences.

"Professor... can we eat first?" He asked, holding a hand over his stomach, which let out another growl of hunger.

"Lloyd, even if you're five, barely six, is that all you can think about, food?!" His tiny professor demanded, pointing her finger at him. Lloyd looked down at his stomach and grinned sheepishly

"Well... it's breakfast." He replied, rubbing the back of his head. All of the other seven 'children' stared at him for a moment and then broke out into a series of giggles, snorts and laughter that filled the brisk morning air.

Perhaps they weren't as mature in the mind as Raine had hoped after all.

* * *

"Then that's what we'll have to do." Raine's voice rang shrilly through the communicator. Yuan stared down at it with a mixture of incredulity and confusion as he sat at his desk in his office in the Triet Desert Renegade base. He'd been working on some new projects in regards to the mana cannon when the chosen's secret communicator had called him, which made him jump. He'd picked it up, expecting another report on the mana flow or perhaps on Lloyd, but instead had been treated to the complete story of what had happened to them during the raging quakes of Derris Kharlan and the knowledge that they had all reverted back to primary school status.

"Professor... can we eat first?" A boy's voice cut over the communicator. "I'm starving."

"Lloyd, even if you're five, barely six, is that all you can think about, food?!" Raine's voice asked sharply, her dulcet tones making Yuan wince.

"Well... it's breakfast." The boy replied sheepishly, which sent a chorus of laughter through the communicator. Yuan listened to their childish laughter, but paused when an idea sprouted in his mind.

A wonderful, cunning, completely brilliant idea.

Yuan picked up the communicator gently with his fingers and held it in his palm. He smiled to himself, though it held no warmth, and flicked off the intercom.

".. Perfect."

**Authors note: **

**Me: Okay, chapter two done. I'm exhausted. Bed now.**

**Lloyd: But..but Yuan's being ominous in a corner... what's going on?**

**Me: Later. Bed now. Besides, he's always ominous in a corner.**

**Lloyd: Ah, you don't need sleep. Just sleep in class, that's what I do.**

**Me: ........ *zzz***

**Lloyd: ... uh..yeah, please review!**


	3. Renegades on the Rampage

**Author's note: **

**I've pulled a Mac-Arthur and returned! A big round of 'thank you's go to all of you who read, favorited and alerted my story! All of you are amazing and I appreciate you all so much. Also, a big thank you goes to **_**Arcane Siren**_** and **_**freakyanimegirl**_**, who reviewed it! You guys are all awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, Yggdrasill would get a much better wardrobe.**

**Yggdrasill: What's wrong with my outfit?!**

**Me: ... you look like you were mauled by the 1970s spandex monster of manmade fabrics. It's not exactly what I'd call flattering.**

**Yggdrasill: *glare***

**Me: .. what?! You do.**

* * *

Chapter Three: Renegades on the Rampage

Yuan sat in his plush leather chair at his desk, his fingers tapping on the mahogany surface of his antique desk. His other hand fiddled with the communicator, rolling it from his thumb to his middle finger and then back again. A small, yet smug smile lingered on his face, though it didn't even attempt to reach his eyes, as he stared down at the little contraption he held.

Thanks to the incredibly fickle Chosen, Yuan had come to see an almost perfect opportunity to procure the release of Origin's seal. Due to the fact that Zelos had inadvertently sat on the com-link that he'd received to contact the Renegades, Yuan had gotten a full account as to what had transpired during the violent quakes from the day prior. Originally, he had been filling out some paperwork that he'd procrastinated on, and had nearly jolted in his seat when a chorus of children's voices bellowed from inside his shirt pocket. Though, he was very pleased that such a beautiful idea pranced onto the scene of the schemes in his mind, winking at him as it danced along.

Chances were the Chosen actually had had no intention of letting Yuan know that early on, if at all. Annoying and philanderous as he was, Zelos was no fool when it came to his own welfare. Letting a potential adversary know about such a weak moment could have been lethal to his well being, something he held very dearly and higher than anything else in the world. Though, whether he'd meant to reveal it on purpose or not was irrelevant. Yuan had the information and there was nothing that could tear his mind from it. The blue haired half elf leaned back in his chair, flicked the communicator into the air and caught it swiftly, barely paying attention to it's landing trajectory. He was too busy brainstorming how to actually go about taking Lloyd into his custody.

He stretched, closed his emerald eyes and began to think, his eyebrows furrowing deep into the creases of his shut eyes. Letting out a tired exhale, he sorted through all of the information that he had collected up to that point and placed it in order, forming his plan with all he could muster.

Eyes shooting open, Yuan glanced at his ceiling and smirked.

It was simple. Now that Lloyd was only the size of a five year old, with a diminished body and short stature, he wouldn't be anywhere near a match for the Renegades, regardless of his exsphere's tremendous power. All his troops would have to do would be to overpower Lloyd, bring him back to the base and he would be at the mercy of the Renegade Commander with one swift strike. Yuan closed his eyes, his face still holding a smug smirk, and rested his hands on his chest.

'After I get a firm hold on Lloyd, Kratos will do anything to make sure that he's unharmed and alive.' He plotted, his thoughts swimming around in his mind. 'Even if it means his own life.' Opening his eyes slightly, Yuan let out a soft sigh and shut them again.

Although he personally didn't wish anything awful against his old friend, Yuan's goals had far outstretched the influence that his past relationships had held. The world was going into ruin, all because a 4000 year old man child had decided to warp Yuan's fiancee's last wish into a perverse and twisted expanse of chaos, just to bring his sister back from the dead.

'Martel wouldn't have wanted this... I know she wouldn't have..' He pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at the ceiling of his office. In order to remove Mithos' source of power, the Eternal Sword, Origin would have to be freed from his sealed prison and the only way to do that would be to break the seal that bound him. However, Origin's seal was held together by Kratos' life force and the seal would only break if all of the mana from his body was released, thus killing him in the process. Yuan didn't desire Kratos' death out of spite, but if that was the only method to save the world and he had to choose between the world and Kratos, the world would have to come first.

As his thoughts lingered on Kratos, whose eyes stared back at him in his mind's eye, they slowly shifted from Kratos to Lloyd, whose face quickly overtook Kratos' in Yuan's thoughts. Lloyd, who was watching Yuan skeptically, his eyebrow raised and chestnut eyes boring a hole into Yuan's forehead, scowled as he eyed the half elf with a suspicious glare. Yuan snorted, his eyes still closed.

"You're a figment of my imagination. I get to glare at YOU, not the other way around." Yuan muttered irritably to himself, his voice gently echoing in his silent office.

Although they had technically joined forces to infiltrate Rodyle's ranch and had the relatively same interests in regards to the world's welfare, Yuan and Lloyd had never been on the best of terms. Their relationship had begun with a barrage of taunts, quips and insults and had tipped downhill from there. Still, he didn't hold it against the boy as much as Lloyd thought or perhaps, had hoped he did.

'While he's a royal irritant, I don't suppose it's his fault he's insufferable and stubborn.' Yuan snorted to himself, his aqua blue hair drifting into his face. 'That's just breeding.' As he sat there, Yuan began to imagine what Lloyd would look like as a five or six year old boy. He'd only seen the boy when he was three a sparing few times, and even then, it hadn't been very long to make a lasting impression.

'He probably has a big head and a little skinny body.' He mused, rubbing his chin as he did. 'Standard for most children, but for Lloyd, it somehow fits.' A small boy came into the view of his imagination, one with spiky brown hair, oversized clothes and a scowl.

'Hm.. I wonder if his clothes shrank too..' Yuan added, but shook himself out of his bizarre train of thought. He didn't have time to think about something so ridiculous as to whether or not Lloyd was wearing a poncho that used to be his shirt. He had more important things to ponder.

The opportunity was out there, waving a flag in his face, but seizing it was proving to be a bit more difficult than he'd hoped. He couldn't let the boy come to any bodily harm, because if he did, his bargaining chip would be all but useless, but at the same time, knowing that it was Lloyd, the boy would at least try to put up a good fight first. Yuan shifted his cheek onto his hand and stared at the wallpaper on the other side of his office.

'That, and his band of friends would also become incredible nuisances if he was attacked.' He added testily, his aqua hair drifting into his face again. If the others were with Lloyd, they probably would still be quite a force to be reckoned with, since two used magic solely and the others would still probably be capable of using their weapons. In fact, the only one who would be guaranteed to be debilitated would be Lloyd, since he used two swords. The inane Chosen would probably have a slightly harder time with his sword, but he'd figure out a way to manage. He always figured out a way to manage.

'Tch.. like a cockroach, that boy.' He let out a grunt and shook his head. He leaned his cheek into his other hand and tapped the table with his index finger again. Although the new 'children' would be weakened considerably, if they banded together to fight like they usually did and, with the power of their exspheres, they would probably stand a chance. Yuan opened an eye and stared flatly at the wallpaper again. The last thing he wanted to do would be having to write a report on the fact that the Renegades were whipped by a bunch of schoolyard brats. That was one indignation he was not going to face if he could help it.

"Ugh.. together they'd still have a chance, even if they are snot nosed-" Yuan paused and sat up, his deep green eyes widening.

That was it. TOGETHER they were a threat, despite their size.. but split them apart and picking them off one by one would be easy as luring monsters with a dark bottle. Leaning back in his chair, he frowned and held his chin with his hand.

"But... how would I drive them apart in such a short amount of time... how to go about doing that..." He mused aloud. It was at times like that that Yuan realized how much he really did miss Botta. Botta had honorably given up his life for the sake of the Renegades and the world, but still.. it felt awfully lonely trying to come up with a good plan without at least some commentary and suggestions from his former second in command.

"Hm... perhaps.. an ambush would be wise, though from the ambushes that I've read about the ones that included the Papal knights didn't end well." Yuan added, "Lloyd and his followers just banded together and defeated them as one entity." He continued to ponder what to do, but then it hit him like a speeding rheaird.

His friends wouldn't be any use to him if he couldn't SEE who was friend or foe. Yuan closed his eyes and smirked.

'If we use darkness, not night, but complete and utter darkness, they'll be running around utterly helpless.' He thought to himself. 'Then the troops would just have to secure Lloyd and that would be that.' With a smirking and triumphant yawn, Yuan stood up from his chair and stretched. Suddenly, a surge of pain shot through his mind and made him wince. Gingerly, he touched the space on his cheeks directly under his eyes and a burning pressure erupted with a vengeance, making his eyes water.

Yuan groaned, feeling the third headache in two days pressing into his sinuses. He'd always been weak to pressure changes, since he could sense mana due to his half elf genealogy, but lately the mana had been growing more erratic and that meant that his eyes felt like they were going to burst out of his face at any moment. Peeking an eye open weakly, he briefly scanned his office, noting the furniture, wallpaper and carpeting, and strode to the oaken cabinet on the far side of the wall. Wrenching the cabinet door open, Yuan brought up his left hand and began to skim the labels across the top shelf. He ran his fingers along the labels until he came across a clear glass jar with a long neck that was filled with a black, foggy smoke. Under the jar's spot, as well as labeled across the container, were the words 'Essence of Shadow's Wake' scrawled across the side in neat and loopy letters.

Picking up the jar, Yuan smirked at it a little and stuffed it carefully underneath his cape, making sure it was firmly secure inside his pants' pocket. Nodding for good measure, he turned on his heel and strode to the door. Though, when he got to the door, he paused, turned around and looked at his office with a sharp gaze.

".... I really do need to redecorate." He commented, glancing at the wallpaper again before he stalked from the room to set his plans in motion.

* * *

"So, where to first again?" Lloyd asked, picking up his part of the campsite. Genis looked over his shoulder at Lloyd and sighed.

"Lloyd, weren't you paying attention?" He asked, not really expecting an answer as he cleaned out the large pot that the risotto from that morning's breakfast had sat. He was so tiny, Genis was actually able to fit inside the pot and did a much better job of cleaning it than he had when he was larger.

"Uh.. I kinda forgot. I was still thinking about the fact that I'm now about five or six." Lloyd replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he grinned at Genis. Genis groaned at Lloyd and blew some of his silver hair out of his preschooler face.

"We're going to Mizuho first, and then to Altessa's." He reminded, peeking over the rim of the pot to make sure he didn't miss any spot that needed washed. Lloyd nodded as he rolled up one of the bedrolls and set it aside.

"Oh, yeah. I remember now." He said, pushing his sleeves up his arms and wiping some sweat from his face. Even though cleaning up the campsite wasn't exactly a tough task, Lloyd still felt a tad overheated after he finally finished packing up.

'It's gotta be the fact that I'm a shrimp now.' He sighed to himself. 'Ah well. I'll get used to it, I guess.' Blowing a strand of his spiky brown hair that had been tickling his nose out of his face, he looked over his shoulder at the others and smiled. Colette was desperately making an effort to not trip over her sea of fabric that she once called a dress. However, by doing so, she didn't watch where she'd be going and would run into various bits of fauna, which resulted in her falling. Presea and Regal had cleaned up the firewood area with the help of Raine, who was now working on stuffing all of the bed rolls into the wingpack she had taken from Lloyd. Genis had finally finished cleaning out the now gigantic pewter kettle, and crawled out of it like he'd gone through a tight sewer tunnel. After he did that, a shriek sounded through the trees, which made Lloyd jump practically out of his skin and out of his smock. Apparently, Zelos was still annoying Sheena over her lack of chest and she was about at her breaking point.

"Oh, come on, I know they've gotta be in there!" Zelos protested. "They can't just have vanished into thin air!" He put his hands on his hips and stared her down.

"You and I both know they weigh WAY too much for them to just float away!" He pointed at her dramatically, which made Sheena grow bright red in the face.

"Look, they just aren't, and you'd better drop it, you dumb chosen, or I'll-"

"Come out, jubblies!" Zelos cooed and rushed forward, hugging Sheena's chest. "Come back, I miss you-"

"YOU STUPID CHOSEN!"

Sheena kneed Zelos in the stomach and then pounded Zelos in the face with her fist, which sent him flying into a tree face first. Lloyd winced when the sound of chosen meeting tree rang through the now silent woods and echoed as he slid down the trunk of the tree until he sat in the dirt.

"Yeow!" Zelos cried, clutching his nose as blood dripped down his face. "Yuu broke by nose!" Lloyd shook his head at Zelos, his expression grim, and handed the last bedroll to Raine. Raine took it without a word and rolled up the sleeves of her gigantic orange coat as she packed. Meanwhile, Zelos flailed dramatically, claiming he'd been gravely wounded and was dying due to trauma to his 'beautiful nose'.

"Uh.. Professor?" Lloyd looked over at Zelos, who was clutching his nose in one hand and reciting a dying soliloquy while gesturing wildly with the other. "Are you gonna heal him?"

"Later." Raine replied, glancing up at Lloyd with stern, yet very large blue eyes. Lloyd arched a chestnut eyebrow.

"Why later?" He asked, as Zelos began to act like he was gasping for air. Raine sighed tiredly.

"Because if I heal him now, he won't learn." The professor replied, her high voice not matching the severity of her tone. Lloyd blinked.

"But, Professor... I don't think Zelos is able to learn about that kinda stuff." He replied, scratching the back of his head with his sleeve, since the folds had unfurled and left him with a sleeve like a windsock.

"I'd have a better chance of learning the proofs in geometry than Zelos learning not to annoy Sheena." He pointed to the pair of children, Zelos now dodging Sheena as she swung the freshly cleaned cauldron at his head, though it was now much bigger than she was. Watching the scene, Raine thought for a moment and reached for her long staff, the staff glowing slightly when she picked it up.

"You have a point." She said, gripping her staff and heading over to Zelos, who was now blocking the cauldron attacks by hiding behind Regal.

* * *

After walking around for a while to clear his head, Yuan stood in front of a small group of land troops, his arms clasped behind his back. He'd managed to stave off his migraine with a sip or two of Palma Potion and, within the good part of an hour, had assembled the best troops he had in the Triet Base. The troops all stood still like marble statues, each one waiting for the new assignment their glorious leader had in store. Yuan eyed them with a serious stare and coughed into his hand to get their undivided attention.

"You all hopefully know why you're here." He began, flicking his ponytail out of his face. "But for those of you who did not read the briefing, I'll summarize." Several of the soldiers looked sheepishly at the floor and Yuan snorted exasperatedly.

"We have just procured new information in regards to Lloyd Irving and a crucial opportunity has just presented itself." He stated firmly. "Apparently, due to a freak accident, they have all reverted to the size and stature of mere children." A few of the soldiers snickered, but snapped back into place when Yuan glared at them.

"This is a very important mission. The success of the capture of Lloyd Irving will be a major step towards the salvation of the worlds." He crossed his arms against his back and paced slowly up and down in front of the troops. "He will be less of a threat as he is now and, by isolating him from his cohorts, he will be a relatively easy target." One of the renegades in the front fidgeted slightly and raised his hand. Yuan raised an eyebrow to match the aloft hand and gestured for him to speak.

"Sir, how are we to isolate him from the others?" He asked. "He will most likely try to attack with them at once as he has always done." At that, Yuan smirked and pulled out the bottle he had been keeping on his person.

"A fair point. However, that is easily solved." He replied, holding the bottle out for them to see. "You use this." A murmuring rumble erupted from the Renegade troops and another raised his hand.

"Sir, what is that exactly?" He asked.

"This is 'Essence of Shadow's Wake'." He replied, shaking the bottle a little. "This is taken directly from the summon spirit Shadow. Use this when you encounter them and the entire area will be blinded with pure darkness." He handed it off to the commander of the troops and folded his arms.

"Once that is in effect, the children should go into a panic, sending them running in every direction. If you close off the perimeter and surround the area with troops, they will run directly into your laps." He explained. Another excited murmur rattled through the troops, but Yuan held up a hand to silence them.

"Sir, about the boy in question, what should we be looking for?" The commander asked. Yuan thought for a moment and glanced at the commander.

"The boy you wish to find will have brown spiked hair, brown eyes, and probably be wearing an oversized shirt, rolled up pants, a blue exsphere on his left hand and, most likely, a scowl." He replied after a moment. He knew Lloyd didn't usually scowl, but he always had that expression when he was in the presence of Renegades.

"I estimate he's around five to six years old, about this high, and he will be fairly thin." He added. "According to the mana signature tracker, they should be deep within the Gaoracchia forest, near the fork between the remains of Ozette and Mizuho." Standing suddenly erect, he stared down his troops of Renegades, who all took the hint and jolted back into order.

"Go retrieve the boy. Failure is not an option." He commanded sternly, his ponytail falling over his shoulder and resting behind his back.

"Sir!" The renegade troops all saluted. Yuan nodded, and without another word, swept from the room, his cape billowing behind him.

'Just you wait, Lloyd. Just you wait.'

* * *

"Urgh, this stinks." Lloyd groaned as he carried both of his swords in his arms, as he walked down the path and tried not to fall over at the same time. Zelos looked over his shoulder at Lloyd and grinned wryly.

"You were the one who wanted to use two swords, Bud. Don't tell me you're regretting that just because it came back to bite you in the butt?" He replied, his nose still pink and bruised from when Sheena had thrown him into a tree. Lloyd glared at Zelos flatly and readjusted his grip on his swords.

"Oh, shut it, Zelos." He grunted, the swords getting heavier with each step. The others hadn't had the problems that Lloyd did with their weapons, since the Professor and Genis used magic, Colette had her throwing chakrams, and Sheena fought with charmed paper. Regal had run into a minor problem with his greaves, since they were much too large for him to use, but he still had the power from the exsphere to go with sheer muscle power, so he was pretty much set. Zelo's sword had become too large for him to use with one hand, but using two hands made up for it. Presea's body hadn't gone through a huge change, except losing an inch or two, so she didn't have any issue either. The only one who had no way of fighting at all due to a smaller and dinky body was Lloyd. That fact was making Lloyd grow very cranky with each passing moment. Zelos glanced over at Lloyd and tilted his head to the side.

"Hey, Bud, what's eatin' you?" He asked. "You look like you just downed some of Her Highnesses' cooking." Lloyd looked up from where he stared at the ground and sighed tiredly.

"I'm the only one who can't fight. This sucks." Lloyd snorted, his heavy swords in his arms. "I feel so useless."

"Ah, Bud you're not useless." Zelos clapped him on the back, which almost made Lloyd fall over. "Just think, you'll have a whole new job." Lloyd looked up at Zelos curiously.

"What new job?" He asked, his eyebrow caulked.

"Why, dear Bud, you'll be our new mascot." Zelos latched a hand around his neck and spread his other arm into the air.

"Just think. We'll all be out there, risking our necks for the world, and you'll be cheering us on from the sidelines, waving your pompoms in the air and flashing adorable poses for all our fans!" Zelos imagined with a huge grin plastered on his face. "Doesn't that just sound great?"

Lloyd looked at him flatly.

"I can hardly contain myself." He replied, his voice inflection dead. Zelos laughed heartily and clapped Lloyd on the back, which made him hit the ground with a thud.

"Oh, c'mon Bud. You'll love it. You'll get to do adorable poses like this-" Zelos arched his back forward, bent his right arm so his palm rested on the back of his head, formed his left outstretched hand into a peace sign, and winked at the brunette with a wry smile.

Lloyd stared at him.

"... that doesn't look adorable. It looks bizarre." He replied as he picked up his fallen swords that had settled in the dirt. Zelos frowned, his mouth in a pout, and folded his arms.

"Oh, hey, you're just jealous I'm way cuter than you." He stuck his nose in the air. Lloyd sniffed, rubbed his nose with his oversized red sleeve and stood up.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly it." He replied tiredly. Zelos grinned and tilted his huge headband up in an arc on his face and winked.

"Or maybe it's just that you'd be bizarre if you did the pose." The seven year old boy mused. "Eh, maybe it's just cuter when I do it." Lloyd let out a sigh. There was no way he was going to win this one and he wasn't about to try.

"Yeah, sure, whatever, Zelos." He sighed, and kept walking. However, his nose collided with Regal's back, and almost made him fall over a second time.

"Hey, why'd we stop?" Zelos called to Sheena. Sheena pointed to the trees.

"It got awful quiet awful fast." She reported. "Watch it, you guys, it could be a-"

A rumbling in the trees silenced her immediately and the children were instantly on their guard.

"Watch it, guys." Lloyd called. "We don't know what we're-"

"Lloyd Irving."

Lloyd's eyes shot up and searched for the person who'd uttered his name. What he found he hadn't been expecting.

Everywhere he looked, he saw a sea of renegades, each holding weapons that were pointed at them. Renegades had sealed off each exit, blocking them with a gateway of men, and surrounded the entire perimeter of where the band of children stood.

"Renegades?" Genis blinked, his large blue eyes widening. "But aren't they on our side now?"

"Perhaps we were wrong to trust them." Regal stated as he eyed one of the renegades who held a crossbow aimed at his head.

"Or maybe they have something new to tell us." Colette suggested, her white sleeves clapped together, since when her arms were at her sides, they reached past her knees.

A man wearing a Renegade uniform stepped forward into the light, his helmet still atop his head so his face wasn't visible. On his lapel however, was a gold pin that signified his authority over the rest of the troop.

"Lloyd Irving. You are coming with us." He pointed to the small boy in the oversized red smock and smirked. "We have use of you." Zelos snorted.

"No, I think Pops's right on this one, my cute little Colette." He patted her on the shoulder. Colette looked forlorn.

"Oh..." She sighed.

Lloyd scowled at the commander as fiercely as he could with his first grader face. "I thought we had decided no more of the 'kidnapping' thing. What's so important that you need me?"

"Yep, that's him. Complete with the scowl." One of the renegades nodded. A murmur of agreement rifled through the Renegades and the commander turned back to Lloyd.

"That's none of your concern." He replied loftily, pulling out the bottle of darkness and yanking open the cork.

"Y'know, I think it just might be my concern, seeing as how I'M the one you want-" Lloyd shot back, but was cut off as his eyes were covered with a pitch black veil.

"H-hey, what's going on?!" He yelled, feeling his face with his hands. Shrieks of indignation and fright erupted from the other children as they too had been swallowed by the darkness.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Zelos' voice bellowed through the trees.

"What's happening?!" Sheena yelled just as loudly.

"Now, men, get Lloyd and anyone else you can find!" The commander pointed into the darkness. The men, equipped with a special visor that allowed them to see traces of heat, all dashed into the darkness and towards the first ball of heat they could find.

Lloyd swallowed hard and backed up a bit.

"Guys, scatter!" He yelled, running off to the side. The group of kids didn't have to be told twice. Everyone bolted in different directions and the commander smirked.

One of the first renegades into the darkness glanced around rapidly, and saw a streak of red light that was most definitely a small child dash past him. Running after the heat source, he stretched out a hand and snatched the kid by the back of their loose clothing. After he got a firm hold on the kid, who was desperately trying to get loose, he pulled out a brown cloth sack and stuffed the struggling child into the bag. He then quickly tied off the end of the sack in a knot and held it into the air.

"Got one!" The renegade gestured to the wriggling sack for the commander to see.

"Is it Lloyd?" The commander called. The renegade patted the wriggling sack and shrugged.

"I dunno, but it's flat as a board, so chances are pretty good it's a boy." He yelled back. "That narrows it down a bit." The sack stopped wriggling, and let out a small squeak of horror. The renegade looked at the now limp sack, shrugged and handed it off to the commander, who set it down next to his leg. He then gestured for the renegade to continue his child chicken chase, who then complied and bolted back into the fray.

* * *

Lloyd ran for his life, his swords left forgotten on the ground. He wouldn't be able to get out of there in one piece, and, as much as it pained him to leave the gift his father had given him, they would only slow him down. His bare feet hit the dirt as he pounded down the trail, his pulse throbbing in his forehead. Looking over his shoulder, he could hear dozens of renegades swarming the entire enclosed area, trapping and running after him and his friends. A blazing bubble of anger erupted in his chest and he grew livid with the renegades for ambushing him and himself for running.

'I can't let them do this.' He snarled in his mind. 'I'm going back right now. No one's going to hurt my friends, not when I'm around.'

However, the instant he decided to turn around to help them, he ran right into the base of a oak tree that had probably been alive during the time of the Sylvarant Dynasty. The tree stretched far out past the other trees tips and stood like a marking stone in the round of time. Or perhaps, a marking stone in the road of Lloyd.

When he collided with the tree trunk, the tree shook violently and several of the branches cracked at the impact. A particularly old, rotted and gnarly looking branch that was barely hanging onto the tree had finally had enough and, with a short and loud snap, tumbled down out of the tree's boughs. Lloyd, dazed at what he had just run into, took a shaky step back, just as the thick limb came bounding out of the trees. The huge branch crashed down on Lloyd's head mercilessly, the branch snapping in two when it struck Lloyd and fell to the ground with a thud. Lloyd's eyes dilated sharply as he was knocked senseless and fell into a nearby bush, out cold.

* * *

Sheena ran down the woods as fast as she could, two renegades red hot on her trail. Her blood pounded in her ears and she could feel their footsteps grow louder as they closed in on her.

"Sylph, help!" Sheena cried, her arms lifting into the air. A whipping of air hit the ears of everyone in the blackened area and the sound of flapping wings suddenly filled the air.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?!" A tinny voice yelled, her purple hair floating in the wind.

"Never mind that! Get the pact maker!" Another voice yelled back, her voice high, but authoritative.

"Will do!" A third trilled. Instantly, Sheena was hoisted into the air by a set of arms latching under her own and vanished with a gust of mana.

* * *

Regal, dashed down the pitch black path, Genis under one arm and Raine under the other. Presea was right on his heels, axe primed and ready to cut down anyone who got in her way. However, unbeknownst to Regal, a length of rope had been tautly wound around two trees near the exit. When his leg hit the rope, Regal fell onto the ground, Raine and Genis landing sharply on the ground in a heap.

"Gotcha!" A renegade yelled, pouncing on Regal's back and pinning him to the ground.

"Run!" He yelled to the two half elves, violently struggling underneath the Renegade's weight as the soldier held him down by his neck and back with his boots. Raine looked pained, but knew she had to get her brother out of there. She started running down the path as fast as she could, not looking back. Genis hesitated, looking back at his helpless friend, but Raine pulled sharply on his arm and tugged him down the path in a furious dash.

"Well, here's another boy for the boss." The Renegade pulled out another sack and brought it over his head to get it open. "And in you go-"

The Renegade didn't get the chance to finish, because the blade of an axe embedded itself swiftly in his side and the sheer force of the blow tossed him off Regal's back and into a nearby boulder. Presea, axe in hand, stood next to Regal and hoisted him up by his wrist.

"We do not have a high probability of victory given the circumstances." She reported, her eyes still blinded by the thick cloak of darkness. " Retreat is the wisest option."

Regal sat up, rubbing his neck where the Renegade had held him down with one of his boots, and nodded.

"I agree." He said numbly. "We must retreat. We have no chance of winning now." Presea nodded and looked down the path.

"Regardless of the darkness, Ozette is this way. I know it by heart." She stated. "Follow me." With that, she disappeared down the opposite path. Regal didn't have an option to argue, so he trailed after her, as fast as his eleven year old legs could carry him.

* * *

Zelos booked it as fast as he could out of harm's way, but this time instead of a tree, he ran right into a thick legs of a very burly renegade that resembled Vidarr, but with more steroid power. The Renegade, feeling the impact, latched his arms around Zelos' body in a bear hug and held him in the air.

"I got another one!" He called to the others.

"Is it him?" Another called back.

"I dunno, but it's a boy! Got the build of one!" He yelled, while Zelos struggled violently, trying to get loose. He tried yelling out for help, but he couldn't breathe because he was being squeezed too tightly.

"Just stick him in the bag!" A third called and ran over to him, though the darkness made for a rather strong barrier. Once he reached him, he opened the bag and held it out for the burly renegade. Feeling the bag, the muscle bound soldier dumped Zelos in and pulled the drawstring on it shut, looping them around in an intricate knot.

"Hey, lemme outta here!" Zelos yelled, trying to rip the bag open. Unfortunately, the sack had been fortified with magic and not even Regal would have been able to stretch it to the ripping point. The muscular Renegade then hoisted the wriggling bag over his shoulder and began down the path to their parked rheiards.

The cloak of darkness began to lift just barely, but the rest of the Renegades looked around and the commander frowned.

"You see any more of 'em?" One of the footmen asked. The commander shook his head.

"No, it seems the others managed to escape." He called. "Spread out and search the paths. They can't have gotten far." The other renegades saluted to him and dashed down the paths that led to Ozette, Mizuho and Sybak. As they left, the commander shook his head and picked up his own wriggling sack. The sack let out a pitiful whimper and he sighed, feeling a tad sorry for the boy inside.

"Sorry, kid. Nothing personal, but we need you." He patted the sack and walked down the path to where his blue Rheiard sat. Attaching the sack firmly to the side of the Rheiard, he started up the ignition and took off into the sky. He was quickly followed by the muscly renegade, his sack yelling a long stream of curse words that echoed through the air and into the blue sky.

**Author's Note:**

**Me: That's another chapter down. I can't wait to see the new episode of ToS: The Animation with subtitles. Shall be 'mazing.**

**Yggdrasill: I'm in that too.**

**Me: Yep, in all your polyester glory.**

**Yggdrasill: ......**

**Me: Complete with shiny, technicolor dream wings.**

**Yggdrasill: That's it!**

_**Holy Lance**_**!**

**Me: Ack! *dives out of the way***

**Yggdrasill: *dusting hands* Please Review.**

**Me: All hail the Disco King!**


	4. Surprises for the Seraphim

**Author's Note: Oi, I'm tired. However, I must continue for the sake of plot bunnies haunting me and an excessive amount of caffeine.**

**Genis: You should probably stop with those chai drinks. You had one today, two yesterday, three the day before and two the day before that.**

**Me: NEVER. Also, a huge thank you to **_**Symphoniafan**_** and **_**silent romantic **_**for reviewing, plus thank-yous for all of you who read, favorited, alerted or a combo of the aforementioned.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, try as I may. If I did, I wouldn't have to disclaim myself.**

Chapter Four: Surprises for the Seraphim

By the time Lloyd finally regained consciousness, morning had come and gone in the Gaoracchia Forest, replaced with a gray and completely dismal afternoon. Patches of light soared in the boughs of the trees, but for the most part, it was dark, desolate, and not exactly pleasant to occupy, especially not alone. The small boy blinked an eye open as he rejoined the world of the living and groggily glanced around. His head stung like crazy, and his body cried out in protest as he struggled to get up and out of the bramble bush that he had passed out in.

"Yeow!" Lloyd yelled when a particularly nasty thorn snagged his hair and pulled him back down towards the sticker bush. Pushing his sleeves back, Lloyd clumsily untangled his spiky hair from the branch, the thorn not wanting to leave without a fight. Once he finally rescued his hair from the bush, Lloyd pulled himself out of the shrubbery and looked around as he sat on the dirt floor of the forest. He didn't see any renegades swarming the area, which was a good sign, but he also didn't see any of his friends, which wasn't as comforting.

"Guys?" the small boy called out, but no one answered. Standing up, Lloyd frantically looked around for any sign of his friends, but saw nothing in the dark depths of the forest that resembled them.

"Guys, where are you?!" he yelled out, but only silence answered him. Nothing, no sound of Zelos yelling that Sheena had hit him, no voice of the professor chastising the pair of them, not even a sound of Colette tripping over nothing. He was alone, alone in the Gaoracchia Forest. Lloyd took in a breath and trotted back towards where he had come, determined to find his friends.

"Guys... where are you.. say something.." He muttered worriedly. He knew that his friends could have been anywhere by now, since they'd all been attacked by the Renegade ambushers out of the blue and that was enough to jolt anyone's system to running blindly into the forest. The Renegades had ambushed them and they all had scattered in confusion, but why the Renegades had attacked them he didn't know. They were now supposed to be allies, so why would Yuan order his troops to attack them like that? It didn't make any sense to the short boy as he stomped down the trail, his bare feet kicking up dust as he went. Lloyd glared daggers at the empty wood and clenched his tiny hand into a fist.

"They'd better be okay... Yuan, if anything happens to my friends, I'll-" Lloyd snarled, but was cut off when his face burned with agony, his pulse pounding in his ears. Clutching his head with his tiny hands, Lloyd crouched down and groaned as searing hot flashes echoed in his head.

"Ow... the hell?" Lloyd moaned, as his head throbbed when he lightly brushed his fingers against the skin of his forehead. As he tried to remember what had happened, a warm sticky substance trickled down his forehead and coated his fingers. Taking his hands away from his face, Lloyd gently touched his index finger to his thumb and sniffed it.

'Blood.' Lloyd sighed in his head. 'Great. That's just what I needed.' He wiped his bloody hand on his crimson smock and then brushed the sleeve over his face in an attempt to get any blood off it. It didn't get much off, the patch of blood on his forehead clung to his skin like a barnacle on a pier, refusing to come off.

Pushing back his sleeves again, Lloyd looked up at the sky, which was gray, cloudy and thoroughly depressing. Running a hand through his hair, his head swearing at him with each stroke, Lloyd began to think in an attempt to remember what had happened when the Renegades attacked.

"Okay... we were walking. Zelos said something about a 'mascot'," Lloyd snorted. That was NEVER going to happen. "Okay, they showed up, banter happened and then... then what?"

He knew he'd run down the path trying to get away, but after that was a blur. He couldn't remember what had happened after he'd decided to go back. There was just a blank chunk in his mind and it infuriated Lloyd to no end.

"I bet that whatever happened is why my head hurts like I got hit with a kendama.." He added tiredly, his eyelids heavy. Thinking of a kendama made him think of Genis and the others, whether or not they were okay and where they were right then. Lloyd sighed sadly and continued down the path. What if something had happened to them and the Renegades got them or worse... what if Cruxis got them? They wouldn't be able to fend them all off on their own and.. he'd never forgive himself if they got hurt because of him.

"There's nothing I can do about that now. But I'll find them. It may take me a while, but I will." The small boy flexed a fist through his shirt sleeve and nodded, solidifying his resolve. He then stretched a little and glanced at the sky above him.

"I wonder where they are." Lloyd mused to himself as he walked, his eyes still fixed on the sky. "If I knew, that'd probably be a great help when I look." As he watched the stone sky, a droplet of water fell out of the clouds and hit him squarely between the eyes. His head groaned in agony at the feeling of anything touching it and made Lloyd blink, trying to salvage his vision. As the rain began to strike the ground faster and faster, the tiny boy pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Great, I'm alone, my head hurts, I'm six and it's raining." He muttered crankily to himself. "Can this get any worse?!" Shoving his hands into his pockets, Lloyd grudgingly turned and trudged down the path, which was now a road of mud and slime.

However, the sound of a squelch of mud made Lloyd halt in his tracks. Lloyd looked down at the ground around him and frowned. He hadn't made that sound, at least, he didn't think he did. It hadn't been in his cadence of walking, nor had he been stepping in a patch of mud at that particular time.

Another sound of a twig being walked on made Lloyd jump and he shot his head up in hope. Maybe it was one of his friends who had managed to get away from the Renegades too.

However, Lloyd's insides ran cold like ice when he saw who it was standing on the edge of the road in front of him.

There, standing down on the tip of the path, was Kratos Aurion, one of the four Seraphim and the man Lloyd had once considered to be his teacher. His dark and spiky auburn hair seemed to be brighter in the gray air and his light skin was much paler in contrast. The older man wore the belted outfit that signified his ties to the angelic order of Cruxis and the hilt of the Flamberge glistened in the dank light of the wood, though it probably shone by itself. He even possessed the stoic and cross expression he always wore, though Lloyd believed that was the only expression he was actually capable of using.

There was no mistaking it. That was Kratos.

And he was looking straight at Lloyd, parachute smock and all.

"K... Kr... Kra....KRATOS!" Lloyd squalled in terror, his eyes the size of dinner plates and his voice worthy of a soprano. Jumping backwards, he landed in a fighting stance and quickly reached for his swords, but froze when all his hands drew was air. His eyes shot to his hips, and the rest of him turned to stone when he realized that there were no swords to draw. Lloyd swore in his mind as he remembered he'd had to leave them behind during the renegade attack and desperately wished he'd taken at least one of them. But then again, how was he to have known that he'd would run into one of his most powerful foes in the middle of the Gaoracchia forest alone while in the body of a grade school kid.

To top it off, he was a small boy standing before an incredibly strong enemy, unarmed, exhausted, AND bleeding from his head.

'I.... I'm so screwed...' Lloyd swallowed hard. 'I don't stand a chance, not now.' He shifted and looked up at Kratos, who was still eyeing him through his curtain of auburn hair.

'Well... I didn't then, but now it's way worse.' He justified crankily, but his internal monologue sharply silenced at a crack of another twig. His eyes soared to the source of the broken stick to see that Kratos was walking towards him, his hand firmly attached to the hilt of his sword and eyes fixated on Lloyd.

Lloyd's throat clenched shut, his eyes dilated again, and his blood froze in his veins. Hands rattling, he forgot how to breathe and let out a strangled scream of horror, barely able to move. All he could do was stare at the angel lord in front of him and shake, blood seeping down his face as he did. Kratos stared back, having stopped for a moment, just watching the terrified looking boy in the curtain of a shirt as he shook. Lloyd wasn't sure what Kratos was going to do, but he wasn't about to stick around to find out. Once he finally got his body to cooperate, Lloyd took a couple small steps back and away from the encroaching seraph, his eyes still fixed on Kratos' sword.

Turning on his heels and sinking the pads of his feet into the slick mud of the forest floor, Lloyd dashed down the path as fast as he could, his oversized smock's sleeves flapping in the wind behind him. He knew he had to run for it; he wouldn't normally have a stood a chance against Kratos in his actual body, let alone that of a first grader.

'... it probably didn't help me much by pointing at him and screaming, though.' Lloyd thought bitterly as he ran through the water soaked path, his ankles caked with mud.

A stabbing pain in Lloyd's head, however, made the miniscule boy lurch forward violently and threw him off balance. When he crouched forward suddenly, a stray tree root snagged the top of his foot and sent Lloyd flying into the air. His tiny body went into an arc and landed on the earthen floor with a sickening squelch of the mud that broke his fall. When he hit the soggy ground, more blood trailed from the crown of his head and trickled down his cheek, his head still throbbing in a stinging cadence.

As he laid there in the mud, the rain pouring down in buckets, Lloyd let out a small groan and glanced up from his new dirt bed. Blood covered a good portion of his face like a crimson curtain, and his vision was hazy and blurred. He blinked once or twice, but a heavy feeling washed over his body and made it practically impossible for him to move, let alone see. He tried stretching out a hand to grip some of the clay in front of him, but he could just barely move his arm before it collapsed onto the ground, despite its meager weight.

'Not good... No.. not giving in...' Lloyd grunted, stubbornly shoving his hands underneath his shoulders and pushing himself up, only to slip on the mud and be sent careening back down into the thick muck below him. His legs, arms and body refused to work, and all the adrenaline that he was gaining from his run in with Kratos clashed dangerously with his agonizing headache.

"I can't give up, I won't!" Lloyd yelled into the air and tried again to get up, but his elbows gave way and sent him hurtling back to the ground. He hit the mud with another squish, and felt the mud soak through his pants, chilling his skin in the process. The cold water from the ground coupled with the freezing rain pouring from the darkened sky drenched Lloyd's clothes, making them cling to his body, despite the difference in size of the huge clothes and the tiny boy. Shivering, Lloyd felt his whole body go numb, the only sensation that remained being the agonizing throbs of pain in his head.

Turning his head to the side, Lloyd could hear footsteps steadily coming towards him, each step curdling his stomach. He couldn't see who it was walking towards him, but he had a pretty good theory it was Kratos. His heart thumped in his throat and his limbs wouldn't respond to anything that he told them. They just laid there in the muck strewn windsocks of sleeves and parachute legs of pants, completely useless and lifeless.

'N... no... I can't... die here.. everyone..not now...' He moaned in his mind, his vision waning and foggy at best. Bleeding, covered in mud, unable to move, and scared out of his mind, Lloyd finally gave in and lost consciousness again, collapsing in the slime underneath him.

* * *

Exhaling tiredly, Kratos walked down the path of the Gaoracchia forest, his eyes fixated on the sky above. It was incredibly gray that day and the way the air smelled signaled that it really wanted to rain. Having travelled down the path many times before, he could tell what the weather wanted to do by the way the air smelled next to the wood. Still, he didn't have time to stop and enjoy the scent of the forest. He had much more important things to do, such as collect sacred wood.

He'd gone to the quaint village of Ozette in order to procure some wood for the ring he was making, but he'd found the village in ruins. Apparently the cruxis angels had gotten to it before he had. Since the village had been destroyed, the grove of sacred wood had been caught in the blazing fires of the attack and had been burnt to the ground, just like that of the village.

Cursing his bad luck, Kratos continued stalking down the path out of the forest, deep in thought on where he would be able to get some of the wood he needed.

'Perhaps the church... no, I would prefer to use that only as a last resort.' He thought to himself. Even though he knew that the church was only a ruse in order for Cruxis to gain power and influence over the people, taking sacred wood from a church just seemed... blasphemous.

A droplet of water striking his nose drew him out of his thoughts and reminded him that he needed to focus on his goal. If he was to help Lloyd stop Mithos' age of lifeless beings, he needed to gather the materials as quickly and quietly as he could. He couldn't let Mithos know about what he was doing and sadly enough, he couldn't tell Lloyd either. As much as the seraph wanted to let Lloyd know about his plans to aid him, he couldn't without placing Lloyd in harm's way, because knowing the boy, he would probably want to help. Kratos snorted.

"Would have wanted' would be a better choice now.' He smiled bitterly to himself as he made his way down the path. Because he had been forced to play out his part as an angel at the tower of Salvation in order to save Lloyd from dying, he had been forced to betray Lloyd in the process, something for which he would not forgive himself. The look of horror and hurt on Lloyd's face when he'd revealed his relations to Cruxis seared itself into his mind and wouldn't let him forget, as much as he had tried. Because of his betrayal, Lloyd hated him for it, or at least, that's what Kratos figured.

'It's better he hates me.' he told himself as he continued. 'It will make things much easier for him.'

He resumed his walking up the hill that led down towards the exit to Sybak, but paused when he noticed motion down the hill a few yards away.

Down the hill stood a small boy, who looked to be about five or six, with spiky brown hair and a gigantic red shirt that was barely staying tucked into his pants. Kratos frowned. He'd never seen a child out in the Gaoracchia Forest, let alone one who was by himself.

"A mirage, most likely." He told himself, resuming his strides down the path, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Gaoracchia Forest was well known for its shadows playing tricks on the eyes of travelers and Kratos was not going to let himself be fooled by something so trivial.

Upon closer inspection, the mirage did look a great deal like Lloyd did when he was the tender age of three. Kratos glared at the mirage as he walked towards it.

'My mind is becoming weak by being in this place.' He hissed at himself. 'Must my memory continue to haunt me with visions like this?' His boot caught a stray twig as he walked and snapped it under his weight as he stepped on it. When the sound of the twig snapping hit the air, the mirage wheeled around, face smiling, but froze in terror when it saw Kratos standing there.

"K... Kr... Kra....KRATOS!" The mirage bellowed in horror and jumped back, reaching for its sides as it did.

Kratos was over four thousand years old. He'd seen a lot of things. However, never once had he ever seen a mirage stare at him in horror, point, scream and then try to draw imaginary swords at him. The mirage then froze when it didn't have said swords and, during its revelation, a glint of light shone from it's left hand.

Kratos' eyes shifted to the source of the light and paused when he saw that on the mirage's hand sat an exsphere. Though it wasn't any exsphere. It was Lloyd's exsphere, blue and shiny, sitting precariously mounted on a keycrest on the mirage's hand.

'Lloyd?' Kratos asked in his head, but then shook the thought from his mind as quickly as it had come. Lloyd wasn't six for one, and secondly, he would have been surrounded by his friends. Still... there was something off about the mirage.

He started towards it, eyes locked on the small boy, and stepped on another twig. The boy's head shot up suddenly, eyes wide and filled with terror and he began to shake. Not because he was cold, but because he was scared to death. Kratos paused when he saw the boy shake and watched him for a moment, unsure of whether or not to speak, but before he decided, the boy spun around and ran the opposite direction, the sleeves of his red shirt trailing behind him.

Kratos frowned and started off after the boy, determined to find out if the tiny first grader had been Lloyd and, if it was, why he had the body of a child in the first place.

When he finally caught up with the boy, he was lying unconscious in a puddle of mud and muck, his clothes completely soaked through by the rain. Kratos looked down at the boy and held out a hand so it hovered over the boy by a few inches. Closing his eyes, Kratos began to sense the mana signature that the boy exuded and remained that way for several minutes.

Opening his eyes again, Kratos sighed and felt his shoulders slump. He'd sensed his own mana when he had read the signature of the boy's and the exsphere on his left hand confirmed it. It was Lloyd, no doubt in his mind. Though, Kratos couldn't tear his eyes away from the fact that his son, while he had been only a child to begin with, was now the size and stature of a six year old, with the voice to match.

"Lloyd... what happened to you?" He asked the unconscious boy as he bent down to pick up the boy. Upon being moved, Lloyd unconsciously moaned in pain and shifted out of his grasp, lying firmly in the mud. Frowning, Kratos firmly, yet carefully picked up the drenched child and carried him over to a drier part of the path, one that wasn't just a mushy sea of mud and earth. Setting him down, Kratos looked around briefly for any sign of an emissary from Cruxis who might have been tailing him. Once he was satisfied that no such emissary was present, he kneeled next to the small boy and turned him so he could examine Lloyd properly.

Lloyd was a mess. Thanks to being splattered with mud, his once rich chestnut hair was dull and dirty, mud and blood smudged all over his face and neck. Trickles of dirty water from his hair ran down his neck into the back of his shirt and the huge drape of a shirt was soaked through, revealing how small he really was underneath it. Lloyd's arms and legs were caked with mud, and he looked as though he was wearing boots because of all of the earth that had clung to his feet and ankles. Dirt, debris and mud covered Lloyd's gigantic clothes as they hung off him and he laid there listlessly on the ground, completely helpless and out for the count.

As he examined Lloyd, Kratos frowned when he saw the dried blood patch on Lloyd's face, though more blood trailed down his nose and onto his cheek. Bending down, Kratos gently brushed some of Lloyd's hair out of his face and his eyes flashed in anger when he saw the wound on the tiny boy's head.

A large, raw and bloody gash sat on the top of Lloyd's forehead, bits of twigs and dirt lodged in the crevices of the wound and in his hair. It bled steadily, a stream of the red liquid pouring down the bridge of Lloyd's nose, and dirt mixed with the blood so it splattered itself about Lloyd's face. Kratos watched the wound sharply and moved some more of Lloyd's unruly hair out of his face.

'This is probably why he passed out.' He thought to himself, taking the sleeve of his uniform and batting some of the twigs out of the wound with it. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he has a concussion as well. How did he acquire such a wound?' He parted some of the spikes of hair out of the way and peered closely at it. There wasn't an angled edge to the wound, so a bladed weapon wouldn't have been the culprit, yet it was pretty deep.

'It must have been blunt." He mused. 'But no one in the Renegades, Cruxis or otherwise has a blunt instrument user that would make that kind of damage, so how....' Kratos paused as a giant tree branch came crashing out of the boughs above and landed with a hard crack in the middle of the forest floor. Blinking once, he stared at the branch and then looked back down at Lloyd. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

"...all that training and you get felled by a branch." He sighed, "You're quite something, Lloyd."

Kratos paused as he examined the unconscious boy and glanced around. He'd expected Lloyd's friends to dash out of the woodwork to save him at some point, but there was no one around. Besides Lloyd, himself and the small monsters in the area, he couldn't sense anyone who could have resembled his friends, or even anything humanoid for that matter.

'They would never leave his side, especially not in this condition.' He thought, wiping some of the blood away from his son's face with his sleeve. 'Perhaps there was a reason they had all scattered, like an ambush.' He glanced down at Lloyd again and frowned. 'Though, I was not aware Cruxis had planned an attack on them at this stage and time.' He thought for a moment and then his face darkened.

'Renegades.' He glared. 'Though, I thought that they had entered into an accord with Lloyd's group. Why are they...' Kratos looked down at Lloyd and shut his eyes in anger.

His small size and diminished age were why. Lloyd would have been a much easier target to capture if he was too small to use his swords and couldn't defend himself if he didn't have them.

Glaring at the prospect of anyone taking advantage of Lloyd's current predicament, Kratos gently picked up his miniscule son and set him on his lap, propping him up with his left arm. The seraph then pressed the pads of his right index and middle fingers on the bleeding wound and green sparks emitted from the tips.

'Regardless of their reasons, the fact that he is alone and injured is more pertinent.' Kratos replied to himself, charging up the green mana. 'He needs to be treated properly and soon, lest his wound becomes infected.' He flexed his fingers a little as green mana crackled under his fingertips and replaced them on Lloyd's gash.

"First Aid." He murmured quietly, the light from his fingers flowing onto the boy's forehead. The green healing light covered Lloyd's wound and stopped it from bleeding. Although it had ceased pouring blood, the wound was still there, angry, deep and raw.

"Tch." Kratos grunted annoyedly when he saw the wound was still present and dusted some of the dirt off the gash with his hand. When he did, Lloyd let out a small whimper of pain and latched his hand onto Kratos' shirt, his tiny fingers digging into the folds of the fabric.

Kratos blinked in surprise as Lloyd turned and snuggled into his chest, curling up in a ball as he did. The older seraph looked down at Lloyd in astonishment as the small boy sniffed once and whimpered again, his grip on Kratos' shirt tightening. He sat there for a moment, watching the unconscious boy rest in his arms practically snuggling him, and a small, yet warm, smile lingered on his face while his mind was rushed with a barrage of memories.

Lloyd had done that before when he was three. Occasionally he wouldn't be able to sleep and would toddle over to Kratos, who was always awake, and would sit in his lap without warning. They would talk about several different topics, ranging from the stars and the summon spirits to how disgusting tomatoes were and why Noishe got into trouble for eating the jacket that Anna had hand sewn.

However, regardless of the conversation, Lloyd would always end up curled up in a ball against Kratos' chest, his fingers latched into the folds of his shirt.

Kratos sighed tiredly and looked up at the sky, which was turning grayer by the minute as the rain pelted down droplets. That seemed like a different lifetime. But then again, there Lloyd was, fingers locked in his shirt, so perhaps it wasn't so different after all.

'Heh.. it seems not much has changed, Lloyd.' He thought warmly to himself, gently running a hand through the small boy's hair. 'Even if you are the size of a six year old.' As he ran his hand through Lloyd's hair, he noticed an unusually hot spot on Lloyd's forehead and pressed his hand firmly against his skin. Lloyd moaned a little at the pressure on his forehead, but Kratos held firm and then took his hand away.

Lloyd's forehead was on fire. He had a fever. Kratos exhaled tiredly and patted Lloyd's forehead gently, before he stood up, the boy locked firmly in his arms. Frowning, Kratos looked down at Lloyd and then up at the path in front of him.

'I cannot take him with me while I search for the materials I need. It is too dangerous for him to be around and Yggdrasill cannot find out what I am doing. He would be too much at risk and he is far too important. Yet..'

He looked down at the small boy with a pained look in his eyes. Lloyd laid limply in Kratos' arms, completely unaware of where he was or who he was with. He looked tired and worn, and would have looked completely peaceful if he hadn't been covered in muck, slime and blood. His fingers were still entangled in Kratos' shirt and his small head rested heavily against the seraphim's chest, his fever radiating so much that Kratos could feel it through his shirt.

'I cannot leave him alone. Not in this condition.' He thought forlornly, dirt from the boy's face smudging his belted shirt and coat. Lloyd inhaled sharply and relaxed into Kratos' arms, the hand with his exsphere resting on his stomach. Having started just a little when Lloyd inhaled suddenly, Kratos let out a sigh and held the boy tighter to his chest with one arm, the other on the hilt of his sword.

Checking that the coast was clear from desians, angels, renegades or otherwise, Kratos started walking up the muddy path of the forest, his tiny charge in tow. The ancient swordsman glanced down at Lloyd as he walked, his eyes holding hints of remorse, and resumed his stare at the rest of the forest, eyes steeled with stoicism once more.

'Not this time.'

* * *

Yuan sat at his desk, hands folded behind his head, and looked thoroughly smug. He'd just received word from the commander of the troops sent to retrieve Lloyd had been successful in the capture of two boys. He'd checked to see if they had captured a half elf, since one of the boys traveling with Lloyd had been a half elf, and was very pleased to hear that they were without a doubt two humans.

'Lloyd, you're as good as mine.' He gloated, his blue bangs falling into his face. Humming a tune to himself, he got out of his chair, crossed the room and began rearranging some files that he'd left out by the windowsill because they'd acquired a musty mildew smell.

As he put the last file back in the cabinet, the intercom in his room beeped and glowed a bright blue, signifying that the troops in question had finally arrived back at the Flanoir base. Letting out a shallow exhale, Yuan strode to the intercom, flipped up the receiver and pushed the button.

"Sir, we just arrived back at the base." The voice of the commander floated through the speaker. "What is your next order in regards to the quarry?"

"Bring them to my office." Yuan ordered, his finger firmly planted on the intercom button.

"Yes sir." The commander replied, his voice sounding like he was saluting with it. Yuan removed his hand from the intercom and ran it through his aqua bangs. He waited next to his desk, cape serenely perched on his shoulders and stared at the door expectantly.

Fifteen minutes later, Yuan was still standing, though he'd leaned onto his desk slightly, and drummed his fingers against the hard surface of the desktop.

"What's taking them so long?!" He muttered bitterly, staring at the door. "Surely hauling quarry here can't take this much time."

As he finished crankily muttering, grunts, cries, yells and swearing echoed through the hallway outside of his office door. They grew louder and louder with each passing moment and a loud tapping sound rapped on the door to his office.

"Enter." Yuan commanded, regaining his composure and flicking his hair out of his face. The renegade door slid open and three renegade tromped into the office, one carrying one bag and the other two wrestling with the other. They were having quite the time trying to contain the protesting bag that was swearing at them as it kicked, punched and fought from inside the bag.

"Your orders, sir?" The commander asked, who was holding the limp bag. Yuan looked at both of the bags and gestured at the floor.

"You may leave them here. I will deal with them personally." He replied. The commander, the two other soldiers and the fighting bag all paused.

"Yes sir!" The two soldiers saluted and unceremoniously dumped the fighting bag on the floor, letting it hit the ground with a dull thud. A loud 'ow' followed by a stream of insults radiated from the bag and Yuan raised an eyebrow at it. The commander then gently set down his own bag and saluted Yuan as well. Yuan glanced up from the bags and nodded to all three of them.

"You may go." He dismissed them. The two soldiers quickly scurried from the room, while the commander seemed a little apprehensive. Still, orders were orders and he left the room without another word.

Yuan, smiling just a little, walked over to the bag that had been fighting the entire time and began to untie the knot on the top of the bag. It took him a while, since the knot that had been used was fairly intricate, but with some work, he managed to slip off the knot and open the bag.

A fist soared out of the bag and squarely hit Yuan in the jaw. He reeled back, clutching his face, and his eyes flashed venomously when he regained his senses.

"Why you little-" He began, but stopped when a pair of turquoise eyes glared back at him, accompanied by a shock of red hair.

"-chosen?" Yuan blinked in surprise.

"The hell is your problem?!" Zelos demanded, his red hair whipping about his face as he climbed out of the bag and dusted himself off. "What the hell are you doing stuffing people into bags, especially gorgeous people like me?!" He stood there, his hands on his hips, glaring daggers at the angelic Renegade leader. His gigantic dress of a vest piled on the floor in folds upon folds of fabric and his pantlegs, having come out of the rolls he made, matched it as they puddled on the floor.

Yuan snorted at Zelos and dusted himself off, not acknowledging that he'd been struck by a second grader and that it had hurt quite a bit.

"If you're in there, then Lloyd must be-" He ignored him and pulled out the less intricate knot on the second bag. The bag fell to the ground to reveal a very scared, very sensitive looking Colette sitting on the floor in the middle of where the bag had been.

"-not here." Yuan finished as he looked down at Colette and smacked himself in the forehead. He'd heard that they'd gotten two boys, but he'd never would have thought that they meant they had gotten two children who had similar builds to boys. Given the Chosen's notorious lack of chest, it was very likely that they had thought they had snatched two boys.

Groaning and feeling another migraine coming on, Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose and paced back and forth. As he did, Colette gingerly got up, her dress trailing to the floor so it was hard to tell when it actually hit her ankles. Zelos leaned against the wall with his arms folded, watching Yuan as he did.

"So, what now, o great leader?" Zelos asked. "Surely you have a plan to fix your latest blunder?"

Yuan glared at him evilly and fumed back to his desk, thoroughly incensed with himself. Now Lloyd knew that they were out for him, so the element of surprise was officially shot and he'd ruined his chance superbly.

"Perfect." Yuan snapped aloud as he sat in the chair. "Not only did I not get Lloyd, but I managed to get the loudmouth moron and the flat chested Chosen, both of which are completely useless to me now."

"... flat.. chested?" Colette repeated, her eyes wide. Yuan looked up from his paperwork.

"Yes, flat chested." He repeated irritably. "Like a ironing board." He then glanced back at his paperwork, determined on how to locate Lloyd now that he knew they were on his trail. Colette sniffed, her eyes puddling with tears and her lip wavering. Falling to the ground, the tiny kindergardener began to cry, small sobs echoing through the office.

Hearing the tiny wails from the small girl, Yuan glanced up from his paperwork and his eyes widened when he saw that she was actually crying. Zelos looked at Colette pityingly and then glared at the Renegade leader.

"Well, good going Blue Boy, you made sweet little Colette cry." Zelos pointed at Colette, who had tears running down her cheeks and sobbed into her sleeves. Yuan blinked in surprise at seeing the tiny chosen bawling and was taken aback by it, not sure how to react.

"What are you waiting for?!" Zelos demanded, waving his seven year old finger at Yuan. "Make her feel better! You have to at least know that much." Yuan glared at the pushy second grader, and then looked back at Colette, who was huddled on the floor, her blonde hair draping all over her face. He'd never once gotten of a report of the chosen from Sylvarant ever being anything less than annoyingly cheerful, but there she was, crying up a storm right in the middle of his office, and he'd caused it.

He crossed the room silently, and approached the shrunken chosen, who didn't look up when he stood next to her. A curtain of hair shielded her face from view, and, with the exception of the sobbing, she did a very good impression of a mop that was stood on it's handle.

Yuan bent down so he was kneeling next to her and sighed a little when she didn't look up at him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a clean and crisp handkerchief and held it out for Colette.

"Here." He said curtly, the white handkerchief fluttering a little. "Take it. I.. I apologize for making you cry. It was not my intention." He felt incredibly awkward as he held out the handkerchief for the young girl, but it was his fault she was so distraught, so he told himself to suck it up.

Colette looked up from her sleeves, her eyes were red and tears that stained her face as she stared at the handkerchief Yuan had offered her. Sniffing once, she took it from him and held it in her tiny hands. She sniffed once as she felt the lacy border of the handkerchief and her deep blue eyes shifted to Yuan. Yuan looked back at her, the awkwardness building in his chest.

".. what?" He asked. "Is there something you wish to-" He was cut off when Colette launched herself at his chest, hitting him squarely in the ribcage. Losing his balance, Yuan landed sharply on the ground of his office, his tailbone squealing in pain when he hit the floor. Feeling dazed, the Renegade leader blinked and it took him a moment to realize what had happened.

Colette was hugging him around the middle, with her fingers bunched in his cape. Sitting squarely in his lap, her hands were latched onto his shirt and cape and she had reconvened crying as hard as she could. Snatching a handful of his cape, he cried into the velvet folds and blew her nose right into the center of his cape.

"Aah, not the cape!" Yuan exclaimed in horror that someone had deigned to blow their nose in his precious cape. However, Colette was far too upset to care. Wiping her nose on it, she then continued to bawl into his chest, her tears soaking his shirtfront.

Yuan watched her for a minute in a mixture of astonishment and horror before he brought up his hand and awkwardly patted her back.

"There there... it's not so bad. You.. uh.. don't really need a chest right now. It.. uh... wouldn't be aerodynamic." He said, trying to sound comforting, though he sounded more confused that comforting. It had been over four thousand years since he'd tried to comfort a female, so saying that he was rusty would have been a drastic understatement. Plus, the female in question hadn't been five, so that didn't help matters much.

A roar of laughter erupted from the corner, and made Yuan's head practically swivel around in anger. Zelos was on the floor laughing hysterically, his small face red from not being able to breathe.

"Smooth runnings there, Mon' Capitan!" He howled, rolling from side to side. "Man, I think GENIS could've done a better job 'n you."

Yuan glared menacingly at Zelos and stared back down at Colette, who hadn't relinquished her grip and didn't look like she planned to anytime soon. He then looked at the ceiling and sighed.

'What have I gotten myself into?' he groaned, still patting Colette's back as she wailed into his cape.

* * *

**Me: Gah, chapter finished... sleep now.**

**Genis: Caffeine wear off, huh?**

**Me: .... I shan't admit anything.**

**Genis: Please review!**


	5. Questioning Conflicts

**Author's Note: Wow, look at all of the views! Thank you all so much for reading my fic! It made my week when I saw the views and press it had received.**

**Yuan: She was practically bouncing around the room.**

**Me: *blushes* .... was not. Anyway, a huge thank you to freakyanimegal, flood125, Kiomori, symphoniafan, NiffStrall, and Sliver Striker for reviewing and once again, thank yous to all of you who read, favorited, alerted and all that fun sauce. You all are so amazing. So, onward ho!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own the ToSness. If I did, I would see many more ToS cosplayers at cons. Seriously, I saw FOUR. That's not enough, people**.** Though, the Wonder Chef did make up for it somewhat.**

Chapter Five: Questioning Conflicts

When Kratos finally emerged from the underbrush of the Gaoracchia Forest, the rain had died down a great amount, so it just misted the air around him. Lloyd, who was still unconscious, groaned slightly as he rested in Kratos' arms, the wound on his forehead throbbing underneath the heat of his fever. Kratos frowned in concern as he briskly made his way down the path that stretched in front of him, his eyes only leaving Lloyd for a second to check his bearings.

Once he was completely out of the forest, Kratos stopped walking and felt Lloyd's forehead.

'He's burning up.' He frowned, his hand still on Lloyd's head, and looked up at the sky.

'I could save quite a lot of time in travel by flying.' He thought, 'However, that would risk exposure if people saw my wings.' Pausing, Kratos stared into space for a moment, raised an eyebrow at himself and looked down at the ill boy in his grasp. Turning on his heel, Kratos summoned the turquoise wings and took off into the air without another thought, Lloyd held firmly in his arms.

As he flew through the air, Kratos' grip on Lloyd grew tighter to make sure that he didn't inadvertently drop the small boy. When the cold air hit Lloyd's dirt ridden skin, he shivered and squished himself closer to the closest heat source he had, namely Kratos' chest. The angel glanced down at Lloyd, smiled a little, but then shook himself of it and flew on, his hold on Lloyd growing stronger by the minute. The grip he had eventually became so tight, the tiny boy let out a squeak like he was being crushed, which made Kratos jump. Feeling slightly sheepish, he loosened his grip a small amount so as not to crush the small child, but still kept an iron hold on him.

Touching down on the ground outside the House of Guidance on the lower side of the fooji continent, Kratos hid his wings and felt Lloyd's forehead once more. It was still hot to the touch, but it thankfully had not escalated further. Making sure that no one had seen him land, Kratos headed towards the House of Guidance quickly, his eyes cold and emotionless as ever.

When he got to the door, he pushed it open and walked inside. The nun inside the hostel, who looked to be a middle aged woman in her mid forties, bowed to the newcomer in respect.

"Welcome to the House of Guidance, where all travelers are welcomed, as per the teachings of Mar- Oh my." She greeted cheerily, but stopped when she saw the state of the small boy that had just been brought in. Kratos ignored her gaping at his son and looked at her stoically.

"This boy is greatly injured and is ill with a fever. Is there a spare room that he could rest in?" He inquired, though he knew from the look on her face, she would have made one for the boy if it meant having him rest on a pew in the prayer hall.

"Oh, yes, yes of course." The nun nodded as she rushed over to get the keys to the rooms above. "There's one that is free on the top most level. I'll lead you there." She pointed to the staircase and climbed up the stairs in a rush of her skirts. Kratos nodded, not in the mood to argue, and began the long ascent to the top floor of the House of Guidance.

"Now, what happened to that sweet boy?" The nun asked as she walked ahead of him. Kratos glanced down at Lloyd and ran his hand through the boy's mud ridden hair.

"He was lost in the forest and was hit by a stray falling branch." He replied. It was truthful, but at the same time, he didn't believe all the details to be necessary. The nun gasped, but continued to climb the stairs.

"Oh, the poor thing. Is that why he's covered in mud?" She asked. Kratos nodded curtly.

"Yes. He fell into the mud." He replied. The nun looked back at Kratos, smiled at him and pulled open the door to the top most room.

The room was fairly basic, with a bed at the far end of the room that was piled with blankets, an old wooden table with two chairs and a window that had a lovely view of the ocean and the docks that led to it. On the far wall opposite the bed sat a washtub that had a spigot above it.

"There's the bed, and a table with two chairs and the wash tub's over there." The nun pointed out the furniture as if she was giving a tour and turned around. "You may want to use that first, since the poor boy's covered in dirt. Plus, baths do bring down fevers." At that point, a deep, buried part of Kratos truly wished to roll his eyes and tell her that he was quite aware of such an obvious point, but the rest of him thought otherwise.

"Thank you." He nodded quietly, feeling Lloyd's forehead for a moment and then turning to the washtub, flipping on the spigot with a flick of his wrist. The nun watched him in silence for a moment, eyeing his unusually formal and intricate clothes.

"Are you a member of the church?" She asked after a minute of observing him. Kratos paused and inwardly smiled bitterly, though his face showed no change.

"I suppose.. you could say that." He consented. Beaming, the nun nodded wisely and put her hands on her hips.

"It's so rewarding to see others doing good work in the name of Martel." she smiled and looked down at the small boy in his arms.

"That boy is very lucky that you found him." She added. "If he had not, the poor thing might have been attacked by monsters or even worse." Kratos looked down at Lloyd and a rush of guilt surged through his chest.

".. Mm." He replied to the nun, his eyes still on Lloyd. Smiling warmly at him, the nun then strode over to him and held out what looked like a pair of clean boy's boxer shorts. Kratos looked at them and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Here." She offered the underwear and hooked a thumb down the stairs. "There is a children's clothes merchant outside selling things. I received this as a sample, though I don't know why this was the choice sample. You may want to talk to him, since that boy's clothes are far too large and dirty."

"Thank you." Kratos nodded quietly as he took the sample from her. Nodding back, the nun left the room and shut the door behind her with a click. Kratos watched her go, let out an exhale of relief at her absence and glanced back at the now full washtub. Turning off the spigot, he looked at the boy in his grip and nudged him gently in the arm with his free hand.

".... Lloyd.. Lloyd, wake up.." He murmured, trying to wake the boy without startling him further. Lloyd didn't wake up at all, but instead snored at him and rested his feverish head on Kratos' chest. Kratos tried several more times to jolt him out of sleep, but it was no use. Lloyd was out for the count.

"Fine. Have it your way." He sighed, rolling up his sleeves and readjusting the small boy, and carried him over to the washtub.

* * *

Once Lloyd was clean, dry, thoroughly dirtless and now wearing the new underwear, Kratos picked the still unconscious boy up and brought him over to the bed. Pulling back the blankets, he gently set the six year old boy on the mattress and covered him back up so he was firmly underneath the covers. The angelic swordsman then sat down on the edge of the bed and peered at the wound that Lloyd had gotten from the branch. The gash on his forehead still glared at Kratos as it sat on Lloyd's forehead, mocking him with all its might. Kratos glared back at it and placed his hand on the boy's forehead, which made Lloyd wince a little.

"_Healing Wind_." Kratos whispered, his hand still on Lloyd's forehead. Green light engulfed the wound on Lloyd's head and a warm wind blew around the room, warming everything it touched. When the wind subsided, Kratos took his hand away from Lloyd's forehead and then placed it back again.

'Hm.. the fever is still there, but only just.' He mused, getting up from where he had sat. The wound was mostly gone, save a raw angry mark and a little blood, but Kratos wasn't taking any chances. Retrieving some cloth and soaking one small piece in clean water, he returned to his spot next to Lloyd and set to work bandaging his son's injury. He worked quietly and quickly, raveling the long strip of cloth around the boy's head, though he was very careful to not wrap the bandage too tightly. Once he was satisfied by the bandage that sat on Lloyd's forehead like the Chosen of Tethe'alla's headband, Kratos took the wet piece of cloth and folded it, placing it on top of Lloyd's forehead.

He sat back, assessing his handiwork for a moment, and then stood up. Kratos watched Lloyd sleep peacefully underneath the blankets, completely oblivious to the world of the living, and the same warm smile that had tried plaguing him earlier returned. He didn't chase it away like he had before, but rather he let it linger on his face as he observed his son sleep.

'He sleeps like a rock.' He smiled a little, shaking his head. 'If he is to be a truly competent swordsman, learning how to wake at a moment's notice for battle is going to be at the top of his list-'

Finally noticing he was smiling, Kratos tore his eyes away from the slumbering boy and glared at his reflection in the window. Having regained his composure, he glanced at his uniform and saw the dirt and debris it had sustained from carrying Lloyd.

'I should clean this off and then talk to that merchant.' He murmured to himself, stalking to the door and pulling it open. He then glanced back at Lloyd, shook his head once as he let out a small, tired sigh and shut the door behind him.

* * *

After what seemed like a lifetime, silence filled the air of the Renegade Office as Colette finally began to calm down. Her cries had echoed for what seemed like forever and a day, so her winding down was a godsend for the sensitive hearing of the angel that she sat upon. She sniffed a few times, her face drenched with tears, and rested her head against the Renegade commander's chest, thoroughly exhausted. Yuan, who for the past hour hadn't moved from his spot on the floor where he'd fallen when Colette launched herself at his abdomen, let out a fatigued breath of relief and patted her back.

"Now that you've calmed down and ceased sobbing erratically, it would perhaps be prudent to get off m-" Yuan began to state, but paused when some of her blond hair fell to the side of her face, exposing her rosy cheeks and shut eyes. Colette had managed to tire herself out so much in her distress, she had fallen asleep on Yuan's lap in the process. She'd curled up tiredly on his lap, eyes closed and her head laid heavily on his lungs. The tiny chosen sighed in her sleep and gripped his cape tightly in her thin fingers, nestling her head into his chest.

Yuan groaned exasperatedly and attempted to move the small child that had planted herself on his person. However, try as he did, he wasn't able to dislodge her grip on his cape and shirt. It was plainly obvious to anyone with eyes that Colette wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Yuan, at a bit of a loss at how to properly and successfully reclaim his lap, looked up at the ceiling and patted her head a few times, her blonde hair falling between his fingers.

"From half elf to angel to renegade to sofa... you really have gone through a lot of changes, huh?"

A voice snapped Yuan from his stupor and the half elf angel turned his head to see that Zelos was propped up against the bookcase he kept next to his desk, flopped on his side with his head on his hand. He glared at the boy briefly before he shifted his eyes back to the files on his desk and then to the small girl sleeping on him. Zelos, not put off by the glare, yawned and stretched a bit, his red locks flowing about the floor.

"Well, seeing as how you've dragged my beautiful self down here along with the tiny angel, you should at least tell us what's going on." He pointed out. "Or would you prefer I figure it out by looking through your files?"

Yuan shot Zelos a death glare that would have made Kratos proud.

"You wouldn't dare." He hissed menacingly. Zelos yawned again and sat up.

"You know me well enough to know that I would in a red hot minute." He replied cheerily. "Besides, you can't stop me with with the tiny cherub weighing you down like an anchor and you know it." He hooked a thumb at the intercom on Yuan's desk and grinned.

"Intercom's over there. Can't call for backup if you can't reach the button." He added wryly. "So, your choice. You can tell me what you're up to, or I can tear your office apart looking for the answer. Take your pick."

Yuan thought for a moment and let out a silent groan. As much as he hated to admit it, and he really hated admitting it, Zelos was right. He wasn't in a position to stop the boy from rooting through his documents and destroying his filing system, so he had few alternatives. The half elf glowered at the ground. Sometimes, he really loathed that irritatingly smug chosen.

"Fine. I'll tell you." He finally relented, readjusting himself on the floor, Colette still perched unconsciously on his lap. He checked to make sure she was truly out for the count and, when he was satisfied she was, he brushed his aqua ponytail over his shoulder, his emerald eyes locked with Zelos' blue ones.

"Originally my plan was to capture Lloyd in his smaller form and use him as leverage against Kratos." He surmised curtly. "But, I'm sure you already knew about that." Zelos yawned and rested against the side of the shelving, his red hair flopped on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I got the basic picture from Pronyma about that seal thingy." He replied, rubbing his nose with a finger. "And from what I can tell from what she said about the seal and what you've said about Lloyd, you want to get the old dude to release Origin's Seal and you're going to wave Lloyd in front of him as bait. Simple to figure out, really. Simple guy, simple plan."

Yuan glowered and closed his eyes, regaining his aloof persona.

"The plan entailed that by ambushing you all with darkness, you would all scatter in panic, seeing as how you were all much smaller and weaker." He continued crankily. "When the darkness was in effect, the renegades would then swoop down and snatch Lloyd away in the confusion, but it seems that backfired-"

"-cause you got the wonderful me and Colette instead of Bud." Zelos finished, scratching his dirt ridden cheek with his left hand. "Alright, I got that far, but dude, there's something that's just stabbing my curiosity."

Yuan raised an eyebrow at Zelos. Zelos matched the eyebrow and waved a hand up and down at himself, gesturing to his boyish body.

"How the hell did you turn us all into grade schoolers?" He asked, red hair fluttering in his face. "I mean, I'm not minding it too much, 'cause of all the hunnies that'll just die when they see my absolutely adorable new body, but I don't want to stay like this forever, y'know. Just until I've had my fun." He winked, then put his hands on his dress of a vest and tilted his head.

"So, how'd you do it?" He asked. Yuan blinked and frowned.

"I didn't. The renegades had nothing to do with your new.... appearance." He replied truthfully. "I merely responded accordingly to the report I received about your new stature."

Zelos mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in horror.

"What, you're serious?!" He gaped. "I can't stay like this forever! I've got places to go, people to see, hunnies to croon!" He looked at Yuan and his face grew red.

"You're sure you didn't do this?" He asked, hoping that Yuan would say 'just kidding' and hand him the antidote. Sure, it was farfetched, but a guy had to try.

Yuan snorted and shook his head, his blue bangs grazing his forehead.

"Chosen, if we had the technology to shrink you all to the size of children, I would have thought of this plan a very long time ago." He replied flatly. "So no, I did not do this to you. In fact, I have no clue as to what did."

Zelos groaned, his shoulders slumping.

"I had an awful feeling you were gonna say that.." He moaned, standing up. He then mosied over to the book case and sat in front of it, leaning against the side of the furniture.

"So, what's your plan of attack now, O Fearless Leader?" Zelos asked from his spot on the plush carpeting next to the bookcase. Yuan sighed tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know." He stated, feeling another headache coming on. "I suppose that it would be best to deposit the pair of you in a safer location. A renegade base is no place for children."

Zelos nodded and flicked his hair out of his face.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that. Can't have a bunch of random kids running around your secret base, disabling your traps and making you look like a fool, right?" He then glanced over at Yuan, an evil smile on his face.

"Oh wait, that already happened." Zelos snorted as he held up two of his fingers in the shape of a 'V'.

"Twice, I might add." Unable to contain himself any further, he fell over laughing, his crimson hair falling over his eyes.

Yuan's eyes shifted to Zelos, murder lingering in the crevices of his irises.

'You're lucky I can't reach you right now, because if I could, you'd be the first Chosen on the moon.' He snarled in his mind, watching the shrimp of a chosen laugh hysterically on the floor.

"Seriously though." Zelos said, gaining his breath back as he sat back up, wiping the tears from his face. "Where did you have in mind?"

Yuan thought for a moment, as Colette still perched on his lap, out cold.

"Hm... perhaps it would be wise to place you in one of the cities, just in case Lloyd comes nearby." He mused. "Since you are his 'companion' of sorts, it would be best to get you back in his company for monitoring his movements."

Zelos snorted and rested his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, yeah. Always for the plotting and what not. Sure, sure, I'll do that." He stretched a bit and yawned.

"Should I go back to Meltokio or something like that?" Zelos asked. "I've got my mansion back there and knowing Bud, if he's not squished right now, he'll check it to see if I've shown up." Yuan looked over at Zelos and nodded.

"That would make the most amount of sense." He agreed. If it had been him instead of Lloyd, he would have checked there first as well. "Where else do you think he'd look?"

"Knowing Bud, he'll look everywhere until he passes out." The second grader responded with a grin. "And when he wakes up, he'll just start all over again." Yuan raised an eyebrow at the boy, frowning as he did.

"I see. Why do you seem so sure of his actions?" Yuan inquired, more curious than he wanted to admit. Zelos grinned and flashed the Renegade Angel a thumbs up.

"That's just the kind of guy Bud is. Stubborn as hell, kinda a moron, but a good guy when it comes down to it." He replied, looking down at his miniature fingernails. "I may be keeping tabs on him for you guys, but it's not like I hate him or anything. He's not half bad when you get past the 'stubborn as hell moron' bit." Taking the communicator off the desk, he tossed it to Yuan, yawned and flopped back down on the carpeting.

"Well, in the meantime, I'm gonna take a nap." He murmured, his arms rested behind his head, eyes shut. "So, you go off and do your whole Renegade Leader spiel. Get everything together, order lackeys, condition your hair and all that jazz." Opening an eye, he scanned the room briefly and snorted, shutting his eye again.

"Oh, and dude?" The seven year old chosen breathed heavily. "You really need to think about redecorating in here." Turning on his side, Zelos yawned again and sank into dreamland without another word.

Yuan glowered fiercely at the sleeping boy and then shut his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose again. He hadn't bitten off far more than he could handle by any means, but this whole endeavor was a bit out of his knowledgeable expertise. Ordering Renegades around in an effort to thwart an insane man child was one thing, but dealing with small beings with the vocal control and capacity of hyenas was a completely different matter entirely. Still, the thought of them all turning into children floated in and out of his mind and poked his temples with a sharp finger. In all his years as an angel and turncoat renegade leader, Yuan had never once heard of people reverting to children that dramatically in such a short expanse of time. The closest instance he could think of was Mithos' switch from a childlike body to that of a man... well, a effeminate man in tights, but a man nonetheless. Yuan grimaced at the thought of Yggdrasill's body suit, but shook it off to linger back in his thoughts. While it had been similar, he could switch back and forth between appearances with the greatest of ease, and neither of the freshly morphed children could change back. He'd gathered that much when Zelos complained vociferously about his state as a seven year old and how it was going to interfere with his debauchery spree.

"I shall have to delve further into this to discover why they all now have the appearance of children. There must be a reason as to why they have all morphed into younger versions of themselves." He mused aloud, glancing down at the sleeping cherub that occupied his lap. Watching her for a moment, Yuan raised an eyebrow and gently parted her curtain of blonde hair with his index finger and thumb.

Colette's face had washed itself of most of the rosiness she'd gained while crying and had replaced it with almost porcelain like skin. Her chest rose slightly as she breathed and slender fingers still held onto his shirt with an iron grip, but she still looked like a china doll. As he watched her sleep peacefully, a realization hit Yuan with the force of Gnome's shovel to the head.

'If she's in this state... Yggdrasill won't be able to use her to revive Martel because the vessel is far too young.' He blinked, staring at the girl in front of him. 'And if he can't revive Martel, his insane age of lifeless beings will be kept on hold whether he likes it or not.' He smiled a little and flicked some of Colette's hair away from her face, since it was tickling her nose and making it twitch.

'Well, at least that will buy some time to determine why this happened and how. Besides, as long as Lloyd's alive, it doesn't matter what age he is. Leverage is leverage.' He added, trying to readjust himself so he wasn't completely uncomfortable. Failing miserably, Yuan reached for the communicator Zelos had tossed him and pushed down the blue button next to the receiver.

"Sir!" A voice greeted him through the speaker.

"There has been a change of plans." Yuan stated sharply through the receiver. "I need garrisons stationed near every major city in Tethe'alla. Lloyd managed to evade capture once more and it is highly likely that he will be heading for a settlement soon. His retrieval is of most importance."

"Yes, sir. Right away sir." The soldier on the other end replied, clothes rustling that sounded like he was saluting the intercom. Yuan rolled his eyes at the idea of people saluting machines, but continued anyway.

"Also, I need an escort to Meltokio for two small children. Do not ask why, for it is highly classified." He added curtly.

"Yes sir." The soldier saluted the machine again. "Is that all sir?"

"Yes, that should be enough for now." He replied, not mentioning the girl on his lap for that would mean having to admit that he couldn't get the tiny child off by himself.

"Sir!" The soldier saluted once more and with a beep, the intercom clicked off, the blue light dulling once more. Yuan inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, his blue hair out of his face.

'As soon as Zelos is in Lloyd's company once more, I shall finally be able to pinpoint his location and as soon as I find him, I'll make sure that I retrieve-' A small snore shook Yuan from his thoughts and made him glance down. Colette, having shifted a bit in her sleep, snored quietly as she slept on. Her mouth was ajar a little and a small trail of saliva slid down her cheek until it rested on Yuan's shirt and cape.

'.. she's drooling on my cape.' Yuan blinked in a mixture of incredulity and horror. Reaching back towards the intercom, he pushed the button again and held it down.

"Sir!" The voice on the other side of the intercom buzzed.

"I changed my mind. There is something else I require." He replied sternly, eyes still locked on the kindergardener who was snoring on him. "Bring me a new shirt and cape from my personal quarters to my office right away."

Silence overtook the other side of the intercom.

"......yes sir... but.. why do you need a new shirt and cape?" The soldier inquired, his voice wracked with confusion. Yuan looked down at his cape, that had been used as a tissue, and his shirt that, once a crying rag, now had a wet spot of saliva underneath Colette's cheek.

"... that's classified." He replied and flicked the intercom off.

* * *

In the top most floor of the large house of guidance, the door to the lone room sat heavily on it's hinges. It groaned as the whole hostel creaked under the moving earth, but remained firmly shut, not budging from where the lock held it in place. However, the sound of rustling blankets crept its way from underneath the heavy door and echoed through the stairwell that led to the floor below.

Inside the room, the rustling grew louder as the small occupant in the full sized bed squirmed under the sheets in his sleep. Yawning a little while still in dreamland, Lloyd stretched, flipped over and flopped like a rock amongst the various blankets that lay on top of him. The heavy quilts weighed down his small frame, so each motion he made barely breached the thick wall of bedding that protected him from the cold spring air. Plush layers of fabric surrounded the tiny boy's body and caressed his pink face as he moved his head from side to side, dreaming little boy dreams of food, friends and avoiding homework.

".... nngh... don't let her cook...." He murmured under his breath. "... not the professor... she'll poison.... everyone...." Letting out a soft snore, Lloyd yawned again and stretched out his arms, the wet cloth that originally had sat on his forehead long forgotten on the floor. One too many tosses caused it to soar off his bandaged head and flipped it onto the ground.

Letting out one final yawn, Lloyd peeked an eye open, revealing a groggy cherry brown iris. Prying both eyes open, Lloyd rubbed away the last hold sleep had on him and paused as the view of his room met his gaze.

"... huh?" He blinked as he slowly sat up, the blankets stiffly falling to his lap. Pausing again, he glanced around the room and raised an eyebrow.

"How'd I get here?" He asked himself, reaching a hand out of the blankets as he made to scratch his head. However, his fingers didn't touch his forehead. Instead, they rested on cloth strips that hand been woven around the six year old's head. Raising an eyebrow, Lloyd felt the bandages with his palm and frowned.

".. weird." He murmured, poking the thick padding on his head with his index finger. As he poked the draped fabric that was woven about his head, his head throbbed sharply, making Lloyd let out a furious grunt of pain.

"Oww... what the-" He groaned, but that sharp jolt to his head reminded him of what had happened in the forest mere hours before. He and his friends had all been ambushed by Renegades, they'd all scattered in the panic and he'd been hit by something. What it was exactly he still didn't remember, but he knew that it was heavy and it hurt.

Turning his tapered eyebrows into a frown against his large cherrywood eyes, Lloyd sat against the headboard of the old bed and closed his eyes, folding his arms against his chest.

'Okay, think Lloyd. What happened after that..' He coaxed himself sternly. '.. alright... I was in the forest alone.. my head hurt like crazy... it started to rain.. and then..'

Lloyd's eyes shot open and widened to the size of dinner plates. While he'd been in the forest, he'd run smack into the one person he wanted to avoid at all costs while he was still a first grader.

'Kratos.' He swallowed hard, and his heart flipped in his chest. Kratos had been standing there at the top of the path, staring down coldly at him, ready to skewer him at a moment's notice. The small boy had tried to make a break for it, but he'd failed miserably, having fallen to the earth in agony. The last few moments he remembered were steps coming towards him as he laid in the ground of the path, his head on fire and blind fear overcoming his senses. He couldn't remember anything after that.

Lloyd's breath grew more rapid as he scanned the room as thoroughly as possible, trying to pick up any sign of the angelic swordsman.

"Okay, he's not here." He let out a gasp of relief and, with some effort, flung the blankets off of himself. Jumping from the bed, Lloyd ran to the window and gripped the edges of the sill. He couldn't see out of it very well, so he stood on tiptoes and peered out the window pane.

It wasn't what he had expected. Instead of a set of cells or even a guard, a long expanse of sea that stretched out farther than Lloyd could see met his gaze. Lloyd blinked in surprise, rubbed his eyes and then stared back out the window to be sure.

"An ocean?" The tiny boy asked the air. "What's an ocean doing here?" Lloyd frowned and jumped when a seagull flew by the window, a fish wriggling in its beak.

'Am I in Altamira?' He asked himself as he gripped the sill tighter. Lloyd's face turned into a grin and he beamed.

'That's gotta be it.' He nodded happily. 'The others must have found me and now we're at Regal's. That's why I'm still alive.' He pumped a fist into the air.

'I bet the others found me and drove Kratos off. That's gotta be it-'

".. I see you're finally awake."

A voice, an all too deep, all too familiar, filled the air and Lloyd's ears twitched, his pupils dilating. He froze, his once happy smile vanishing, and his blood turned to ice. Wheeling around, the small boy looked to the doorway of the room and his lungs sank into his stomach.

There, standing in the threshold of the door, was Kratos, spiky auburn hair, stoic expression and all. In his arms was a small brown bundle about the size of a melon, tied together with crude twine. Shaking himself out of his frozen stupor, Lloyd jumped back in a fighting stance, but went too far and landed right into the sill of the window. The shelf of the sill struck him in the back bluntly, causing Lloyd to stagger forward, unable to keep his balance, and fall onto the oaken floor with a thud.

"Ugh... ow.." He groaned, pushing himself off the floor. Regaining his composure, he stared Kratos down, fiercely scowling and his shoulders hunched.

"Y.. you!" Lloyd pointed, glaring with all his might. "What are you doing?!" Kratos raised an eyebrow at the boy, then turned, shut the door and put down the bundle on the table, not acknowledging the boy's outburst at all. Thoroughly irritated that he was being snubbed, Lloyd grew red in the face and his hands curled into fists.

"H-hey, don't ignore me!" he demanded, pointing another dramatic finger at Kratos. Kratos glanced over at Lloyd out of the corner of his eye, which made Lloyd instinctively take a step back.

"W-what?!" Lloyd asked defensively. "What are you looking at?!" Kratos didn't answer, but instead calmly walked over to Lloyd, his eyes and face unreadable. Lloyd glowered, his body defiant and ready for any attack sent his way, but froze in shock when, instead of drawing his sword, the angel placed his hand on the small boy's forehead and closed his eyes.

"Hm.. it seems your fever has broken." He commented, taking his hand away from Lloyd's head. "Good."

If he hadn't been clenching his teeth, Lloyd's jaw would have dropped. Kratos never seemed to care about anything that didn't have the Chosen's name scrawled all over it before, let alone something like an illness and with Lloyd no less.

".. I had a fever?" Lloyd asked numbly, his eyes still locked on the angelic being. Kratos nodded, turned away and strode silently back to the table that the bundle precariously sat upon.

Lloyd blinked, large eyes staring at Kratos' back with a mixture of anger and confusion. He was supposed to be an enemy, but why he did he care if Lloyd had a fever or not?

"W-why do you care if I have a fever or not?" He demanded, his high voice wavering. In his mind, he shrugged at the part of his brain that was yelling at him for asking an enemy anything, let alone that.

'When it doubt, ask.' Lloyd countered in his thoughts as he eyed Kratos suspiciously.

Kratos didn't reply right away like Lloyd had hoped, yet doubted he would. Instead he quietly watched the sheen of the scrubbed table glow and flicker in the light.

".. I have my reasons. Nothing more, nothing less." He replied, his voice dull and lifeless. Lloyd glared and folded his arms against his chest.

"That's not much of a reason." Lloyd replied hotly. "Wait... don't tell me you have the same.. uh..." Lloyd frowned, his brain wracked in thought. Kratos glanced over his shoulder at the boy, who was obviously thinking as fast as he could.

".. agenda!" Lloyd punched his fist into his hand. "That's the word! I can't believe I forgot it." Looking rather pleased with himself for remembering, he shifted his gaze to Kratos and resumed glowering.

"You don't have the same agenda as the Renegades, do you?" He asked menacingly. Kratos raised an eyebrow at Lloyd and went back to unraveling the twine off the package.

"What are you talking about?" He inquired curtly, twisting the twine string around his hand.

"The Renegades ambushed everyone in the forest and you were there too." Lloyd replied, arms back in an arc as he puffed out his tiny chest. "That can't be just a coincidence and you're always planning stuff like that."

Kratos stopped twisting the twine and looked at Lloyd over his shoulder again, his right eye gazing at him. Lloyd was pretty sure the other was as well, but due to the curtain of auburn hair that hid it, he couldn't see it to be sure. Taken aback by the sudden hard stare, he shook it off and regained his glare.

"The renegade commander said that I didn't need to know what the reason was and you said that you have your reasons." He continued. "So, what are they? If I'm needed for something like that guy said, then I think I should at least know what the hell's going on."

Kratos watched Lloyd long and hard, his eyes stern, serious and once again unreadable. Lloyd stared back, trying to match the expression and figure out what it was Kratos was hiding at the same time. However, all that did was make his head hurt more. Silence filled the room as they continued staring back at each other and Lloyd was starting to get more uncomfortable by the minute.

'I.. I can't let him win.' He told himself sharply. 'There's no way I'm letting him walk away without at least a hint of what's going on. Why do the Renegades need me?' He glared at the older man, who watched him back.

'What are you not telling me? What do you know that I don't?'

"... w-well?" He demanded, having regained his voice, and went in for the kill.

Kratos looked over at him again, turned back to the package and let out a shallow exhale.

".. there is nothing for me to say."

And missed it by a mile and a half.

Lloyd's eye twitched in anger, irritation and sheer tiredness as he watched Kratos pull the last bit of twine off the package and set it next to the brown bundle.

"So why are you here?" Lloyd asked, his voice calming down a tad. Kratos didn't answer.

"What are you looking for?"

Kratos didn't answer.

"What's in the bundle?"

Kratos didn't answer.

"... why is the sky blue?"

Kratos still didn't answer.

"Oh, come on!" Lloyd groaned exasperatedly, his shoulders slumping. "Take me seriously! I'm trying to interrogate you and you're not even paying attention."

"I'm giving that all the attention it deserves." The angelic swordsman replied, turning around so he could see the irate six year old boy completely. Lloyd glared and stamped his foot on the wooden floor.

"Hey, just because I look six doesn't mean I am!" He protested. "Don't treat me like I'm some little kid!" Kratos smirked a little, observing Lloyd, who had his face in a childish pout.

"Heh.." He shook his head a little and his dark red bangs fell into his face, hiding the warm glow in his eyes from view. Lloyd, having completely missed the warmth, puffed out his chest again and glared.

"Stop with that smirk!" Lloyd scowled, his face rosy. "I'm not amusing, I'm intimidating!"

Kratos' eyes scanned Lloyd briefly and he shook his head again, the amused expression lingering on the edges of his face. He then pivoted back and picked up the brown bundle, unwrapping it as he held it.

"You would probably be more intimidating if you weren't standing there in nothing but your underwear." He commented offhandedly as he unwrapped the last piece of brown paper from the bundle.

Lloyd paused at Kratos, eyes confused, and looked down at himself.

With the exception of a pair of white little boy's boxer shorts, Lloyd was completely bare, his pink skin glowing against the sun that came through the window. Letting out a strangled gasp of mortified horror, Lloyd flailed and frantically tried covering his almost self with his arms, crouching down in a ball.

"Where... where are my clothes?!" He demanded desperately as his head swiveled around the room in a hurried search, his face bright red and his eyes widened in humiliation that his greatest rival and now enemy had seen him in his underwear. Kratos sighed, rolled his eyes and eyed the embarrassed boy in front of him.

"They were far too large for you, so I took them." He replied coolly, his gaze resting on Lloyd's strawberry face. Lloyd swallowed and looked down at the floor in defeat.

'Great.. he's holding my clothes hostage.' He groaned. Looking back up at Kratos, he gripped onto the rest of what was left of his pride and glared at him.

"Well, give them back!" He glared. "I need those!" Kratos set down the bundle and folded his arms so they rested against his chest, leaning against the wall as he did.

"No, you don't." He replied sternly. "They were far too big for you and only hindered your movements, as you demonstrated when you fell flat on your face." He readjusted himself as he rested against the wall, the curtain of red hair covering half his face.

"Besides, they were filthy." He added.

"That wasn't my faul-" Lloyd began, but stopped. Something didn't click in his mind. His clothes had only gotten so filthy because he'd been running down a mud path and had fallen into said mud. However, something didn't add up.

Glancing down at himself, he noticed that, not only was he only wearing children's underwear, he was completely CLEAN as well.

"Wha... how... hold on..." Lloyd stammered, his eyes locked on Kratos with crushing mortification. "You didn't.... BATHE me, did you?"

Kratos raised an eyebrow, not moving from his spot on the wall.

"You were filthy." He replied calmly. "The state of hygiene you were in would have ruined the bed to which you were placed had I not."

Lloyd stared at him in horror. Not anger, not rage, but horror, pure and complete. It also seemed as though he was in a state of shock because of it. Sinking to his knees, Lloyd stared at the ground and looked like he was about to cry.

".. Oh... no.. no, no..." He gasped raggedly at the floor, his face redder than his boots. "You... gave me... a bath... my enemy.. gave me a bath.. " Huddling in a ball with his back to the air, Lloyd shook in sheer humiliation, the degradation of getting cleaned by an enemy sinking in thoroughly.

"It's not that big of a matter, you know." Kratos replied sordidly, his arms still resting against his chest as he eyed the puddle of Lloyd on the floor.

"Maybe not for you!" Lloyd shot back, his eyes wracked to the brim with embarrassment. "My pride is officially gone! Vanished! Booted out the window! Completely destroyed!"

Rolling his eyes at the nearly hysterical boy, Kratos snorted annoyedly and walked over to the table, picking up the bundle that laid on its surface.

"Once you've managed to salvage your mangled pride, put these on." He dropped the bundle in front of Lloyd. Lloyd, still in the throes of his humiliation, paused it and poked the bundle in front of him.

"What's this?" He asked curiously, temporarily forgetting his thorough embarrassment.

"Clothes that will fit you." Kratos replied shortly. "Luckily for you, there was a merchant that stopped here that specializes in children's clothes." Lloyd glowered at the thought of a 'children's clothes' merchant, but lost the expression to surprise when he saw the red shirt, navy blue shorts and white scarf.

"These.." He looked up at the much taller man and stared in surprise. Kratos, noticing Lloyd's stare, cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his stoic nature and strode to the door.

"I'll give you some time to change." He stated, gripping the doorknob, beginning to shut the door.

"Hey.. Kratos?" Lloyd's boyish voice called after the angelic swordsman.

Kratos paused and glanced over his shoulder at Lloyd, who was holding the long sleeved red shirt to his chest.

".... thanks." He murmured, his voice abashed and his cherrywood irises locked on the older man's exposed eye. Kratos, a tad taken aback, though he didn't show it whatsoever, nodded once and shut the door behind him, latching the knob with a click.

Lloyd watched the door for a few minutes before he pulled up the shirt, slipping the shirt over his head and sticking his arms through the sleeves.

Sighing a little, he stuffed his head through the top of the shirt and yanked his arms through so his hands reached through the loose sleeves of the red shirt. As he did, one of the sleeves of the shirt snagged on something on his hand and wouldn't go through. Frowning, Lloyd gently coaxed his hand through the shirt sleeve and he pushed up the sleeve to see what it had been that had snagged his shirt.

His exsphere, glinting in the sunlight, shined hello to Lloyd as he stared at the blue crystal on his hand. It had gotten caught when he'd pulled it through, and he'd completely forgotten about it.

'Wait... why didn't he take my exsphere?' Lloyd frowned and sat back so he could grab the navy blue shorts. 'He had the perfect opportunity and all.. plus, doesn't Cruxis want this back?' Pulling the shorts on, he shook his head in confusion.

'What's that guy trying to do?' Lloyd let out a curious sigh, but thinking about Kratos and Cruxis reminded him that he'd just been bathed by an enemy.

"Gah, I can't believe he saw me with no clothes on!" Lloyd groaned exasperatedly as he unceremoniously stuffed a leg into one of of the holes in the shorts. "Why didn't he just wake me up or something?! Yeesh..."

* * *

Kratos stood adjacent to the door, and leaned up against the wall as he waited for Lloyd to get dressed. Unbeknownst to the boy inside, his angelic hearing allowed him to hear everything that Lloyd grumbled while getting dressed.

'Don't think I didn't try, Lloyd.' He thought flatly as he glared at the door. 'Not even the rays of judgment would jolt you out of your sleep. And if I thought that would work, I would have tried it already.'

Sighing tiredly, Kratos closed his eyes and shook his head.

'Like a rock.' He shook his head once and the inkling of a smile lingered on his face once more. Once again noticing his own smile, Kratos quickly hid it away behind a glare.

'At least he's conscious. That was rather disconcerting. Though, his head must still hurt due to that blow he received from that fallen branch.' He thought to himself. 'After he calms down considerably, I shall have to examine the wound again so it can be completely healed properly.'

He let out a sigh, his arms folded against his torso and opened his eyes halfway. Lloyd's fright in the forest, along with his response to Kratos' presence in general, had been understandable, since he was now the size of a small child and Kratos was much more powerful than he had been when in his original form, let alone a miniature one. Also, the fact that he now considered both Kratos and Cruxis to be his mortal enemies also made it understandable when he ran at the sight of the angelic swordsman.

'Still... that face .. that fear....' Kratos closed his eyes again. The look of terror and fear on the boy's face when he saw Kratos kept flashing in and out of his thoughts, along with the boy backing up and fleeing in the opposite direction in dead panic. Even though he could understand why Lloyd was so alarmed, since he had the body of a small boy, he was alone and was unarmed at the time, but that face haunted him every time he closed his eyes.

Letting out a small 'tch', Kratos opened his eyes, his expression unreadable and stern once more, and glared at the ceiling.

'No. It's better this way.' He told himself sharply. 'It's better he distances himself as far away from me as he can. It's better he thinks I'm his enemy.' Glancing at the door, he nodded once and closed his eyes. As long as Lloyd kept himself far away from Kratos, that would be better for the boy and his friends. That's what Kratos kept silently repeating to himself, anyway. Sighing softly, Kratos looked towards the door heavily and closed his eyes again.

'It's better... that he's afraid of me.'

* * *

**Me: Chapter finally completed.**

**Lloyd: Woo! ... you okay?**

**Me: I'm fine.**

**Lloyd: .. you don't look fine.**

**Me: ... I'm feeling guilty.**

**Lloyd: Why?**

**Me: ... I just am.**

**Lloyd: Oh.**

**Me: I'm... I'm gonna write some more. *goes to computer***

**Lloyd: Uh.. okay, then. Please review!**


	6. Out of the House and Into the Base

**Author's Note: Woo, I'm back again. A lack of sleeping due to allergies and such let me have some writing time, so while sleep is a good thing, writing is also good.**

**Tremendous thanks to cyanbilbo, Koharu Kage, NiffStral, Destiny's Light, silent romantic and Kiomori for reviewing. I really appreciate it that you all reviewed my humble fic. Also, gratitude is sent to all of you who favorited, read, alerted, added it to a community or a combination of the aforementioned.**

**So, without sleep and further ado, here it is.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, we would get a prequel to the game that completely entailed the journey that the four heroes took 4000 years ago, not just the Tales of Fandom skits. While I loved them deeply, they weren't enough to truly satisfy my curiosity.**

Chapter Six: Out of the House and Into the Base

Once Lloyd finally finished putting on all of the clothes Kratos had left for him, he stretched, yawned once and glanced at himself in the decrepit mirror on the wall. Staring back at him was the same boy from before, unruly and spiky chestnut hair going every which way and cherrywood eyes that attempted to pierce the mirror. However, this time he didn't look like he'd been swimming in his clothes. Thanks to the contents of the bundle, Lloyd now wore a pair of thick and plain navy blue shorts which missed his knees by about three inches, and a long sleeved red shirt made of stiff, durable fabric, much like that of his old shirt, though this one actually fit him. Underneath the shirt was a simple black sleeveless shirt made of thin cotton, and a white scarf twirled around his neck, it's long ends snaking over his shoulders. Instead of suspenders holding his pants up, Lloyd had been given a plain brown belt with a silver buckle in its place. He'd woven it through the loops of his shorts and stuffed his red overshirt into the shorts in an attempt to make the new clothes feel more natural and not some clothes that a very powerful, very serious and very cranky enemy had given him.

His calves were covered by white knee socks that hugged his legs and a simple pair of brown slip on shoes adorned his feet. Lloyd had hoped that they would have been red to match his shirt, but since he'd never seen red shoes besides his boots anywhere else, he wasn't surprised that they weren't. Shrugging at his shoes, Lloyd readjusted the white scarf around his neck so both of the tails trailed behind him like his original shirt and eyed himself over in the mirror again.

After he approved of how he looked, Lloyd made a grotesque face in the mirror, then exaggeratedly mimicked Kratos by raising an eyebrow, standing up overly straight and closing his eyes pointedly, arms folded against his tiny chest. Peeking an eye open, he eyed himself in the mirror, snorted and tried to hold back a laugh, though he didn't do a very good job of suppressing it.

'Wow.. that was a little too good.' He grinned at himself toothily, dusting himself off. 'I bet I could win an award or something.' Glancing at the door, his grin faded and was replaced by a stubborn frown.

"'Salvage your mangled pride' my foot." He grumbled aloud, his arms pressed against his chest in fold. "No way am I gonna recover from that. And what if Zelos found out..." Lloyd shuddered at the thought of the Chosen discovering his embarrassing secret regarding his current cleanliness.

"No. There is NO WAY that guy is EVER finding out about that. I'd never live it down." He shook his head and looked at the doorway again.

'I don't have time to think about that right now.' He told himself flatly. 'I've got to get out of here before he comes back while I still have the chance.' Scanning his eyes about the room, Lloyd's eyebrows creased as he began to think.

'He may have my original clothes, but they'll only slow me down right now. Plus since I have new ones, I'm outta here.' Nodding, the six year old boy looked to the right and squinted as a large sunbeam dashed into the room and struck him in the eyes. Rubbing them for good measure, Lloyd peeked an eye open to see that the clouds that had been blocking the sun in the sky had finally parted and allowed it to roam free. Though, the tiny boy wasn't paying attention to the sun's newfound freedom, rather he was grinning at the window to which it came.

'Jackpot!' Lloyd beamed, his eyes lighting up like that of the sun. Running over to the window, Lloyd let out a hushed groan of exasperation when he realized that, in his new boyish frame, he could barely see out of the window, let alone escape out of it. Frowning to himself, Lloyd flipped the scarf over his shoulder and rested his back against the stone wall that was underneath the window.

'Ugh, no good. I can't escape through the window if I can't reach it.' He glared at the paned glass and frowned. 'There's gotta be another way-' As he scanned the room with his eyes, he noticed that the paper that his clothes had come in was resting next to the base of the pedestal table, crinkling on the floor. The paper rustled against the sole leg and flipped over, so it brushed up against one of the chairs that occupied the space next to the table. Blinking for a moment, Lloyd grinned and rushed over to the table, snagging the back of the chair.

'Kratos may have found me in that forest, but I'm getting out of here before he can find the rest of my friends too.' He told himself as he scooted the chair along the slick wooden floor while trying not to scuff the floor with the legs. 'He probably figured that he can find out where they are if he can get me to tell.'

'That's why he's being.... kinda nice to me..... well, as nice as Kratos can be, I guess.' Lloyd added as he pushed the chair against the windowpane as quietly as he could. 'That's why I bet he got me those clothes too. He wants me to let my guard down and then he'll go in for the kill. Well, I'm not falling for it, you hear me?!' Lloyd glowered at the door and readjusted the chair so it bumped against the windowsill.

'I'm not telling you where Colette is, not just because I don't know where she is right now, but even if I did, I'd rather die than let her fall into the hands of Cruxis!' He fumed, scrambling onto the chair. 'And I'm not sticking around for the dying thing either.' Once on the chair, Lloyd began fiddling with the latch on the side of the window that locked it in place.

'You tricked me once. You're not doing it again.' He glared at the latch as the rusty metal had been stuck there for months and only a good amount of elbow grease was going to make it budge once more.

'Besides, the moment they get their dirty hands on Colette, Cruxis won't have any reason to let the rest of us live, since we all know too much.' He ran a tiny hand through his chestnut hair and frowned.

'To quote the Professor, we'd be like curry under my nose.' He snorted. 'We'd be gone without so much as a second glance. And I'm not gonna let that happen.' Latching his hands on the windowsill, Lloyd looked back at the door, and involuntarily swallowed hard when he thought about the angel who lingered in the hallway just outside.

It wasn't that he hadn't always been intimidated by Kratos' aloof and stoic presence since the first time they met outside the Martel Temple, but it wasn't until the events in the Tower of Salvation that Lloyd had truly begun to realize how much power Kratos actually possessed. He'd only toyed with them, and yet crushed them mercilessly, which wounded Lloyd's pride with a jagged dagger. Hurt by the betrayal of the older swordsman he had respected so much and deeply wished to be like, Lloyd had sworn to himself to defeat Kratos no matter what, even if it took him his whole life. As a result, whenever they crossed paths after that, he'd done his best to hide his wounded pride and heart by lashing out at the angel with his words and swords. However, Kratos would just parry away his attacks, turn around, say something cryptic and leave without another word.

As much as Kratos ignoring him irritated Lloyd, usually his cryptic words did end up being helpful, which in turn irritated Lloyd even more.

'What's he trying to do? Whose side is he on?' He thought, his eyes still locked on the door. 'But more importantly.. what's he planning to do now that I'm six?'

Although Lloyd figured, in his older body, he could probably keep Kratos at bay for a minute or two, he was now the size of a first grader and most likely had the strength to match. Sure he had his exsphere to help him, but even when he was his original size, he hadn't stood a chance against Kratos with his friends there to aid him, let alone by himself. Lloyd was entirely at the mercy of the Seraphim who probably had the capability to take down an entire army by himself. He was completely helpless and he knew it.

And it was that helplessness... that made Kratos absolutely terrifying.

Lloyd frowned as he sat on his knees and shook his head. Patting his bandaged forehead in an attempt to snap himself out of his stupor, he glared at the door and then turned his attention back to his escape route.

'He's not scary. He's just.... well, okay. He's a bit scary.' The small boy relented as he hoisted up a leg over the windowsill. 'But that's only because he's bigger than I am right now. He won't be so scary when I'm my own size again. Then we'll see who's the intimidating one and who's the one in the underwear.' Once he firmly sat on the windowsill like he was riding a horse, Lloyd looked down out of the open window. From where he was, there was a three story drop between him and the ground. Grimacing at the height, Lloyd gripped the sill and peered around.

Twenty feet directly below his window was a bright orange and green striped awning that shaded the door leading to the field behind the House of Guidance. The covering floated aloft via four wooden poles that were drilled into the ground stiffly and were held in place by wrought iron anchors. Lloyd leaned over from where he sat on the sill and narrowed his eyes as he thought.

"Hm... bit of a drop.. but if I angle it just right, I should be able to get over to that awning and shimmy my way down-"

"Lloyd, what are you doing?"

Jolting in his spot, Lloyd reeled his head to see Kratos standing in the doorway, his cool eyes fixed on him and his face uncharacteristically surprised. The small boy's eyes locked with Kratos' and his heart did a backflip as he sat there on the sill with one leg out the window.

"I-" Lloyd began, his throat tight, but his grip on the window sill slipped, causing Lloyd to be thrown off his even keel. Eyes wide, he scrambled to cling to the edge of the window, but his tiny hands weren't enough to reestablish his balance. Missing the frame of the window by mere inches, gravity betrayed him and sent him through the open window's frame.

"W-wha-whoa!" Lloyd yelled in panic as his balance vanished entirely and he fell out of the window back first, eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd felt something brush against his hand, but he was too preoccupied with the oncoming ground to register what it was specifically. Eyes round and thoroughly startled, he plummeted down towards the ground and landed sharply on the lurid awning below. When he hit the taut fabric that stretched across to the four poles, Lloyd bounced like a rock on rubber and ricocheted off the awning, his arms flailing in the air.

"Yaaa!" Lloyd shrieked as he was sent sprawling through the sky and into the sand below. His face hit the sand hard, as did the rest of his body, and he laid there for a moment or two. Dragging his face out of the sand, Lloyd rubbed the small granules from his eyes, ears, face and hair and looked around.

"Ugh, there went my grand escape." He grimaced as he got to his feet. Looking up at the third story window, Lloyd noticed that Kratos was nowhere to be seen.

"Great, he's A) laughing at me, B) coming down here right now or C) all of the above." Lloyd groaned, dusting off his shirt with his hands. Glancing back at the window, the tiny boy turned on his heels and dashed down the walk that led back towards the main trail. Just beyond the hill that stretched across the path sat a small thicket, the trees and brush covering the field like a patch of missed stubble on the groggy face of the landscape. It was so dense that only a small child could fit into the underbrush.

'Okay, if I can get to the thicket over there, I'll have a chance.' He chanted in his head, running as fast as his legs could carry him, while his eyes stayed focused on the thicket down the path. However, since he was watching the thicket and his eyes couldn't watch two things at once, Lloyd tripped over a wooden laundry basket filled with clothes and was sent flying through the air again.

Planting his face into the sand below, Lloyd let out a pitiful moan and lifted his head from the sand, basket still sitting on his head and shoulders. The basket was so large on his frame, it covered his face, shoulders and the upper half of his torso, so when he sat up, he looked like a bizarre lamp. Sighing slightly, Lloyd reached up both of his hands and lifted the basket from his head so he could see.

Clothes were everywhere. While they were still relatively clean since they had only landed in sand, it looked like a laundry bomb had exploded all over the beach, shirts, skirts and stockings resting all over. Lloyd groaned sheepishly as he peered out from under the bucket and blinked when a sock fell onto his face, draping itself over his nose. Snorting, he pulled the sock off his face and winced when a small shock of electricity snapped at his finger.

"Yeowch..." He glowered at the sock and dumped it in the basket that he had set next to himself. "Great. Now I left him a trail-"

"What's going on out here?! What happened to my laundry?!"

Lloyd froze and looked over his shoulder to see a very plump, very angry looking nun stalking towards him, murder in her eyes. Getting up, Lloyd picked up the bucket, hoping he could use it as a shield if she got too angry.

Once she reached him, the nun looked down at Lloyd, her arms folded and her rotund face in a frown.

"What happened out here, young man?" She asked, her voice dripping with annoyance. Lloyd looked down at the bucket, then to the clothes strewn about the beach and then back at the nun.

"I.. I was running and I tripped." He answered truthfully, though he left out the part that included his grand escape from one of the four seraphim of Cruxis that occupied the upper levels of the House. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your laundry."

"Well, you should pay more attention to where you're goin-" The nun began, but paused when she noticed the large white bandage about Lloyd's head.

"Hold on. Are you the boy that was unconscious?" She asked, leaning down and forward so she could get a good view of him. Lloyd leaned back and searched for any means of escape.

"Uh, er-" Lloyd began, but the nun cut him off by poking at his bandage. Lloyd winced and clapped a hand over his head, his eyes watering. Nodding, the nun stood back up.

"Yes, there's no doubt about it in my mind. You're that boy that young man brought here." She stated firmly. "I didn't recognize you without all that dirt and mud on your face."

'Let's not remind me about how I came to be so clean.' Lloyd inwardly scowled. 'It was bad enough the first time.' As he looked up at the plump nun, Lloyd noticed that she didn't seem annoyed at him at all anymore. In fact, she was beaming warmly at him, her cheeks turning red and the corners of her eyes turned up in a smile.

"Um.. ma'am?" Lloyd asked, his eyes observing her carefully. "Is there something on my face?"

"Hm.. no... it's just-" The nun couldn't help herself. In one fell swoop, she'd scooped Lloyd up in her arms and cuddled him like a child would a rag doll.

"You're just so adorable I could just squeeze you!" She cooed and did just that. Lloyd's limps pinned to his sides, he hung there in her grasp, his body crushed in a bear hug and his face squished right into the center of the large nun's chest. Turning his head to the side, he managed to get in a small breath of air, his face red as a beet. He had to find a way out of there and quick before he passed out or worse, Kratos caught up with him.

"Ma'am, er.. if it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you please put me dow-"

"Oh, and so polite too! You're such a little gentleman!" The nun cooed and swayed him from side to side, his tiny body at the mercy of her strong motions. As she swished him around, Lloyd felt the last bit of oxygen leave him and his head cried out in protest, as did the rest of his body.

"Uh, Ma'am, I, uh... I can't breathe.."

The nun didn't hear him, as she was too busy squealing over how cute he was. Head spinning and his lungs picketing for air, Lloyd sagged limply in her grasp, his eyes growing foggy.

'Huh, instead of being skewered by Kratos, I get suffocated by a nun.' He thought drunkenly, his head spinning with colors. 'I gotta admit..... I didn't see that one coming.'

* * *

Hearing a rapping sound at the door of his office, Yuan glanced up from where he still sat on the floor, Colette still snoozing on his chest. Sighing tiredly, he pushed the red button on the intercom and held it down.

"Enter." He muttered, dreading what was about to come. The door stuck in its track for a minute before it jerked to the side, revealing a soldier with a bundle of clothes. The pile of shirt and cape didn't make an excessively high stack, but due to the fact that he was carrying the Renegade leader's clothes, his eyes were resting seriously on the clothes as if his life depended on it. Noting his vigilance, Yuan raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes.

'You know, it's refreshing you wish to do your job well, but this is taking it a bit too far. One wrinkle won't cause me to go into a rage.' He murmured to himself. 'That would be Yggdrasill.'

Not catching the blatant eye roll Yuan had given him, the Renegade's head shot up from the pile and saluted the stationary commander.

"Sir, I brought the items you requested and-" The Renegade paused his report and stared down at the seven year old boy baying at the moon next to the bookcase and the kindergardener who'd made a nest on Yuan. Jaw dropping slightly at the sight of Yuan being turned into a nap mat, the Renegade stood there at a loss for words.

A thick silence filled the room like cream stew and settled like it had congealed overnight. The footman's eyes shifted to the mop of red hair and an agape mouth that snored at the ceiling, to the small blonde girl who had turned his commander into a cushion. Yuan's cheek twitched as the renegade footman gaped at the scene that met his eyes and cleared his throat to regain his attention.

"Yes, leave them there." He gestured to the desk pointedly. "I shall take care of the rest." The renegade foot soldier blinked blankly for a moment, then shook himself out of his trance and saluted again.

"Sir!" He nodded respectfully and placed the fresh clothes on the desk. Yuan, pretending the staring fest hadn't happened, cleared his throat and observed the renegade with cool, calculating indifference.

"Is there anything else?" He asked, his emerald eyes boring a hole in the soldiers head like a drill. The soldier blinked and nodded once, saluting once again.

"Yes sir. The transportation that you requested is ready to go once you give the word." He added. The angelic commander snorted and gestured for the lackey to go.

"Good. You are dismissed." He said tiredly, no longer paying the messenger any mind. Saluting one final time, the renegade backed out of the room and into the hallway. Once the door slammed shut, he rushed down the hall, eager to tell the other soldiers what he had seen.

Yuan watched the door shut and snorted when the phrase 'Ready to go once you give the word.' the renegade had stated ran through his mind.

"Easier said than done.. pun not intended." He muttered to himself bitterly. Scowling at the door, Yuan brushed his bangs out of his face and glanced at the two children engaged in a siesta on his office floor. Zelos had flopped over from where he'd originally sat near the bookcase and laid spread eagle on the carpeting, his mouth wide open, and baying at the ceiling. Colette was still curled up on Yuan's lap, her hands clenched firmly in his cape, the patch of wet fabric under her chin growing larger by the minute. Grimacing a little at the wet spot, Yuan looked at the ceiling exasperatedly and began to think.

Taking both Chosens to Meltokio would be relatively easy via the stealthy crafts and routes the Renegades had at their disposal. However, the hard part would be waking them up and removing the little girl from his person without causing either of them to start bellowing, which he wanted to avoid at all costs. Depending on the situation, angelic hearing could be either a blessing or a curse. After he moved them and got out of the tiny cherub's death grip, he could begin his preparations. However, until he did that, he couldn't go anywhere or do anything productive.

Frowning, Yuan surveyed Colette, who still latched onto his cape. Yawning slightly, the five year old gripped the cape and flipped over, taking it with her so it covered her torso like a blanket. Raising an eyebrow at his cape and it's captor, an idea crawled into the corners of his mind and, after he argued profusely with it for a minute, Yuan finally relented.

'I'll do it.. but I won't like it.' He grumbled to himself. Gathering up what remained of the cape, Yuan covered Colette in his mantle and tucked her into it until she looked like she was encased in a black satin cocoon. Smiling in her sleep, Colette rubbed her finger and thumb against the surface of the cape and nestled into it, her blonde hair flitting about the edges. Yuan watched her for a moment and then gingerly unhooked the now tangled cape from his neck. He rarely took off his cape, only in grave circumstances or for battle, but in this case, he had little choice. It was either that, or wear a little girl as a new accessory. Deciding to opt out of that fashion trend, Yuan lifted the now cocoon of a kindergardener off his lap and set her on the floor so as not to wake her and incur her weepy wrath. Colette didn't notice her new position on the floor, instead turning over in her slumber and gripping the cape in her minute fists.

Ecstatic to be free from his prison on the floor, Yuan stood up and stretched, his back shrieking in pain. It had been quite a while since he'd sat in one place for that long and his body was going to remind him to never do that again. Feeling his back and shoulders crack, Yuan winced and looked over his shoulder.

'Ugh.. maybe my old age has finally caught up with me.' He sighed, flipping his ponytail over his shoulder and stretching again. 'I'm going to feel that later.' Yawning slightly, though he no longer required sleep, Yuan walked over to his desk and picked up the shirt that had been brought by the footman. It was a practical carbon copy of the shirt he wore, with the exception of the saliva stain. Most of his shirts, with the exception of his formal wear, all looked exactly one another in form and design. Albeit it was repetitive, he had always fancied himself in shirts like that and when he had a good style, he chose to stick with it.

'Why change something that is fine as is?' He asked himself, picking up the shirts. Pausing, he groaned and pinched his nose, his eyes closed.

'That sounded so much like Mithos, it was sickening.' He muttered crankily to himself and yanked his drool ridden shirt over his head and off.

Once Yuan had finished changing and hooked his fresh cape around his neck, Yuan glanced at himself in the mirror he kept next to the faded picture frame on his desk. Picking up the mirror, Yuan brushed his bangs out of his face and readjusted his ponytail with his free hand, tucking in a stray hair here and there while trying to smooth it out at the same time.

"I knew it. You preen."

Yuan's eyes shot from the mirror and landed on the red headed chosen who still laid on the floor, but his arms were folded underneath his head and he had crossed his right leg over his left.

"Ah, well can't say I'm surprised. You having the 'preenies' makes just as much sense as Yggdrasill wearing that scuba suit and the old dude's hair spiking everywhere." Zelos added, grinning wryly. "It's unexplainable and a little disturbing, but it kinda fits."

Yuan stared flatly at Zelos, his hand still resting on his aqua ponytail.

"Remind me again why I shouldn't turn you into barbecue."

Zelos laughed and sat up, his red hair falling about his slender shoulders.

"That's easy, O magnificent Preeny one." He replied cheerily, readjusting his pink frock that had fallen askew. "You need to keep track of Lloyd, but you can't do that if you don't have a mole that'll tell you whatever you need to know." He hooked a thumb at himself. "And that's where I come in."

"That you do." Yuan readjusted the last bit of his bangs and glowered at the small boy occupying his floor. "On that note, you should know that your transportation to Meltokio has been arranged and is prepared to leave when you are ready."

"Finally!" Zelos pumped a fist into the air and rested his hands on his hips. "I can get to my hunnies and put on some new clothes." He glanced at himself and sighed.

"While fashionable and fantastic, these clothes no longer fit me." He shook his head. "A pity really. No one really understands how important it is for me to look my very best every waking moment of the day, nor do they have any idea how hard it is to maintain such a perfect image. Now I have to find a brand new set of clothes just for my small frame, though I'm sure I can make it work one way or another-"

Yuan, now looking over an order form, nodded absently while Zelos ranted and completely drowned him out, as he found the number of radishes the base had received were much more interesting. Noticing his rant on fashion was falling on deaf ears, Zelos glared at Yuan and folded his arms, his young face in a childish pout.

"Are you even paying attention?" He asked hotly. Yuan looked up from his form.

"Not really, no." He replied, going back to his form. Zelos scowled and began to rave about people not paying attention to his dreadful dilemmas, but a high pitched yawn from the pile of cape stopped him mid rant. Yuan glanced up from his papers to see that the bundle that was his favorite cape rustled along the ground and flipped open as Colette sat up and stretched, her tiny hands barely reaching out of her tunnel like sleeves.

"Ah, I needed that nap." She cooed, rubbing some sleep from her eyes. "Always makes me feel better." Blinking her eyes open fully, the miniature chosen looked over and waved at both Zelos and Yuan.

"Good morning. What did I miss?" She asked, blonde hair flouncing about the floor. Her large eyes trailed to Yuan and she beamed at him.

"Mr. Yuan, what happened?" Colette asked happily, not resembling someone who had been a wreck an hour before whatsoever. Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose at being called 'Mr. Yuan' and pointed to Zelos, who was running his hands through his hair because he didn't have a comb.

"He can tell you." He replied tiredly. "I'm too tired."

"But angels don't need sleep." Colette replied cheerily as she tilted her head to the side. "And you're an angel, right?"

"Yes, but that's not what I-"

"But you do also lead the Renegades... are you a part time angel?"

Yuan had to stop himself from slamming his face into his desk.

* * *

After Yuan made Zelos explain the situation sufficiently to Colette, all three of them walked down the hallway that led down to one of the ship's hangers. Yuan, who was in the lead, strode a good ten feet away from them, his thoughts focused on how quickly he could transport them to Meltokio and if sending them via the tethe'alla postal service would be in good taste or not.

Zelos walked slowly, his arms folded behind his head, while Colette trotted next to him, the huge folds of fabric that made up her dress held in her arms. Eyeing the distance between himself and Yuan, along with the fact that Yuan was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he wasn't paying them attention, the scarlet chosen glanced over at Colette and made a 'psst' sound.

"Hey, Colette." Zelos whispered. Colette looked over at Zelos and tilted her head.

"What is it, Zelos?" She asked quietly.

"I've got an idea." He muttered back. "You know how Yuan's really fixed on getting his paws on Bud?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I've got an idea. What if someone were to stay here and keep an eye on Yuan? If he was kept busy or had someone keeping tabs on him, he wouldn't be able to go after Bud. So I was thinking... what if you stowed away?"

Colette blinked.

"Huh?" She asked. "What do you mean?"

"If you were to hide until the ship's gone, Yuan wouldn't be able to send you to Meltokio right away. He'd have to wait until another ship came back." Zelos explained. "And he wouldn't be able to get at Bud if you were there the entire time, keeping tabs on him and whatnot. Everything he does, you'll tell me and we'll be there to stop him."

"I.. I guess." Colette agreed. "But how would I keep tabs on him?" Zelos fished out a purple com-link and handed it to her.

"With this. Press this button and we can talk like we are right now." He replied. "It's a pretty big job. You think you're up for helping Bud like this?"

Colette held the communicator in her tiny palm and thought of Lloyd grinning happily at her in her mind.

".. Yes, I can do it." She nodded. "Lloyd's already done so much for me. It's my turn to help him."

Zelos patted Colette's back jovially and glanced at Yuan, who was still deep in his thoughts.

"I'll get you a distraction." He whispered to Colette. "Then when blue boy's gone, you go for it." Colette watched Yuan's ponytail swish from side to side and nodded.

"Okay." She agreed. "Whenever you're ready, Zelos." Zelos grinned and, carefully eyeing Yuan, walked up behind him and latched his hands onto Yuan's cape.

"Yuan..." Zelos whispered, tugging on his fresh cape. Yuan looked down at Zelos and observed him suspiciously.

"What is it, Chosen?" He inquired. Zelos looked from side to side and whispered in a desperate hush.

"... I gotta go to the bathroom."

"Then go to the bathroom."

"I don't know where it is."

"It's down that hallway on the left." Yuan replied tiredly.

"I can't go alone!" Zelos yelped, his pink vest dragging about his shoulders. "I'll get lost and it'll be scary..."

Yuan looked at him flatly.

"You can't be serious. I am NOT taking you-"

"But I gotta go!" Zelos whined. "And I can't go by myself and I'll get lost and I can't hold it forever!" Yuan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This can't be happening to me." He murmured tiredly, flicking his ponytail off his shoulder. "FINE. I'll take you to the restroom."

"Hooray!" The redhead chosen hugged Yuan about the torso and pulled his hand. "Let's go!" Yuan groaned and began down the hall to the left, his cape billowing behind him. Giving Colette a thumbs up, Zelos grinned and trotted down the hall after Yuan, his plan well in motion.

Colette nodded to Zelos and then turned around, dashing back towards the Renegade commander's office.

* * *

Kratos stood in the hallway of the House of Guidance, arms folded against his chest and cherrywood irises locked on the door. He had stayed in the same spot for twenty minutes, and while he usually prided himself on his patience, for one of the few times that he could remember, he was starting to become restless.

'How long does it take one boy to change clothes?' He asked himself as he rested against the wall. 'It's not as if he is having to stitch each piece of fabric together.' Shutting his eyes, Kratos breathed deeply and his curtain of auburn hair fell into his face.

'Perhaps I should give him some more time.' He mused to himself. 'He is recovering from quite the series of injuries and that may be slowing him down-' A screech of furniture being scraped across a wood floor jerked him out of his thoughts and his eyes rested on the oaken door in front of him.

'.. or he could be squeaking something across the floor.' Kratos frowned and closed his eyes, tapping into his angelic hearing. Earlier he had heard Lloyd mutter something about 'mangled pride, my foot' and the chosen of tethe'alla, but he had not paid it much in the way of attention. Since he was never one to eavesdrop intentionally, he had attempted to give the boy some privacy, but the shrill screech from underneath the door had been a bit much to ignore. Opening his eyes and eyeing the door thoughtfully, Kratos frowned when he heard another sound, this time a 'thud', coming from the wall.

'What's Lloyd doing in there?' He asked himself again, eyes narrowing. As he watched, Kratos' eyebrow raised when he heard another sound, one that mimicked shuffling of clothes and a cushion. Glaring at the door a moment, the angel sighed and brushed off his sleeve with one of his hands.

'He's had enough time.' Kratos stated, pushing himself away from the wall. 'If that dull sound was his body hitting the floor, he will be in need of help....' The angelic swordsman stopped and looked at the floor for a moment, his waves of hair covering his face like a veil.

'.... 'help'?' His own voice asked himself curtly. 'I believe it's already been proven that your help isn't something that he'll ask for.' Sighing, Kratos shook himself from his thoughts and eyed the door with a stony glare.

'Lloyd will not want my assistance, because of his pride and the glaring fact I betrayed his trust.' He ran a hand through his spiked hair and shook his head.

'Though... I cannot say I blame him.' He added, the voice in his mind glinting with remorse. 'I would not want my help either.'

Surveying the door, the angelic swordsman sighed and approached it. Whether or not Lloyd accepted his help was irrelevant. He would at least check on his condition briefly with feigned indifference and the boy would be none the wiser.

Frustrated at himself, Kratos knocked softly on the door twice and gripped the doorknob with his right hand.

'I'll check on him and then-' Kratos opened the door and froze, taken aback by what he saw. Lloyd was perched on the windowsill, one slender leg out the window and the majority of his body leaning out the window like he was about to jump out like a bird leaving the nest.

'He's trying to escape.' His own voice echoed through his thoughts again. 'Out a window, no less.' Banishing his thoughts from his mind temporarily, Kratos stared at his spectacle of a son for a moment before he regained control of his voice.

"Lloyd, what are you doing?" He asked in a commanding voice, one that he used when he wanted to make a powerful impression.

The young boy on the sill practically jumped out of his skin and wheeled his head around like a swivel chair. Lloyd blanched when he saw Kratos staring back at him, his cold eyes locked with Lloyd's wide auburn ones. His fingers that gripped the sill grew white, as did the rest of his body, which Kratos attested to the fact that he had been caught trying to dive out the window.

"I-" Lloyd began, but his hands lost their grip on the sill and he lost his balance on the window frame. Though he tried to grab the sill in an attempt to stabilize himself, Lloyd missed and was propelled backwards through the window.

"W-wha-whoa!" The boy yelled as he careened out of the window towards the ground below.

"Lloyd!"

Rushing to the window, Kratos attempted to pull Lloyd back, but his hand only grazed the tips of the boy's small fingers and missed it's target. Now airborne, Lloyd dropped like a lead balloon, landed on the awning that shaded the back door and bounced back into the air, yelling in horror as he flailed. He then flew through the sky and landed heavily in the sand, a cloud of sandy dust marking where he had impacted the earth below him.

Blanching for a split second at the sight of his son in the sand crater, Kratos wiped his face of the blanched complexion, cursed himself for missing the boy's hand and swiftly made for the stairs, his white tails of his uniform billowing behind him.

He had almost tossed his discretion to the wind, donned his wings and exited through the window after the boy, but at the last minute, common sense had caught up with him and slapped him across the face. Glaring at himself, Kratos quickly descended the stone stairs and mentally berated himself for even thinking of exposing his wings, let alone jumping out a window with them out. However, as he did, his thoughts moved from his wings to the boy that had just reenacted a lovely impression of a pinball.

'He should be fine, since he still has his exsphere.' He told himself, as he stalked down the stairs . 'An impact such as that would not do extensive damage, if any at all. There is no need to be concerned.'

However, he WAS concerned and it was growing exponentially by the minute, regardless of what he told himself. Lloyd may have been aided by his exsphere, but still, that fall could have done some serious damage, and there was no telling how his new body would take the impact. Plus, he was still recovering from his injuries, so what if the fall had done more damage to his body and made the old wounds worse?

The voice in his mind that was yelling at him about revealing his angelic status and the voice telling him that Lloyd came first had gotten into a fierce argument and, for the time being, the voice hotly protesting that Lloyd was the top priority was winning.

Once he finally reached the bottom floor of the House of Guidance, Kratos strode out the back door and stalked around the bend, searching for any sign of the previously airborne boy. However, Lloyd was not in his sand crater and was nowhere to be found.

In his place, a version of laundry armageddon met Kratos' gaze. Raising an eyebrow at the strewn clothing, his ears picked up a small squeak, one that sounded like a mouse being crushed by a brick.

'What is that painful sound-' Kratos looked to the right in the direction of the squeaking and his other eyebrow raised to match the first.

Lloyd was being hugged by the plump nun from before, paralyzed by her grasp, and hung like a rag doll suspended in midair. He weakly struggled against her grip, and his face was turning an unsightly shade of blue. He also seemed to be trying to whisper a plea of being released, but it fell on deaf ears as the nun was cooing far too loudly to hear him.

"Oh, it's you again." The nun smiled at Kratos and turned to him, Lloyd still nestled in her arms like an anaconda nestling its prey. Kratos nodded out of social etiquette and watched Lloyd to make sure he was still breathing. Lloyd looked back at him pleadingly, his face still blue, and stared at Kratos as his strength began to run out. The nun, who hadn't noticed Lloyd's complexion yet, beamed at the boy and then at the swordsman, who was watching Lloyd fervently.

"I see he's feeling better, being out and about. How did he get down here?" She asked, taking a stab at conversation.

"He jumped out of the window." Kratos replied curtly, his attention still fully on Lloyd.

"What?" the nun looked down at Lloyd, her face in a frown. "Why did you do that, you silly thing? Do you want to hit your head and pass out again?"

"Perhaps it would be prudent to release him before he loses consciousness once more." Kratos gestured to Lloyd, whose eyes were becoming unfocused and hazy. "He's an unsettling shade of blue." The nun blinked, looked down at Lloyd, and quickly released him, horrified that she had almost suffocated the boy. Lloyd, who fell to the ground hard, laid there like a fish who had just been released back into the water.

"Oh dear. I must have been too occupied to notice that I was hugging him too hard." She gasped, patting the boy on the back. Lloyd gripped the ground tightly, sitting on all fours on the sand, as he gasped for air with his hand on his chest.

"Are you alright?" She asked the small boy. Lloyd looked up, his eyes watering, and nodded weakly.

"I'm.... I'm okay." He rasped, his lungs still demanding air. "Thank .... you for.. letting go." The nun smiled and pointed to Kratos.

"You should thank him, dear. He's the one who noticed." She said calmly. Lloyd looked up at Kratos, his eyes rounded slightly and he let out a groan. He then stared at the ground, his shoulders slumped, and looked completely defeated.

"... thank you." He murmured, his voice sounding like he was being led to the gallows. Kratos raised an eyebrow at him and nodded slightly, his auburn bangs masking his left eye.

"You're welcome. However," The older man glanced at the shirt that rested next to his boot and glanced back at the pair of them.

"Why are clothes strewn all over?" He inquired. The nun sighed and patted Lloyd's head.

"He tripped and fell into the laundry basket." She replied tiredly. "All that wash..." Lloyd looked at the ground.

".. I'm sorry." He murmured again. The nun smiled at the boy and shook her head.

"It's alright, dear. These things happen." She sighed once more. "Oh, my poor laundry.."

"You need not worry about your laundry." Kratos cut in, his voice stern. "If you don't mind, I shall rectify the situation. Would you be kind enough to give us some privacy so that I may do so?" The nun blinked and glanced down at Lloyd, who was looking at Kratos with a mixture of horror and curiosity. After a moment, she finally relented and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but please don't be too hard on him." She advised. "He's only a boy and it was just an accident."

'I don't need you to tell me that. I know that much.' Kratos thought curtly, but showed no inkling of his thoughts.

"Do not worry. I shall do what is necessary." He replied. Studying the boy one final time, she patted his shoulder with a silent message of 'good luck' and walked back into the House of Guidance without another word.

Kratos watched her as she made her way back to the House of Guidance, as to make sure she did in fact enter the house. Letting out a shallow exhale when he saw the door close and heard the latch click, he turned his attention back to Lloyd. Lloyd sat on the ground, rubbing his fingers over a nasty cut he'd received when he'd landed. Peering up at Kratos for a moment, he blinked when he noticed that Kratos was looking back at him and quickly shifted his gaze downward. Shaking his head tiredly, Kratos approached Lloyd quietly and eyed the injury the six year old was massaging.

'Hm..' Kratos knelt down on one knee and gently took the small boy's arm. It was limp when he softly gripped it, Lloyd having lost the urge to fight back for the moment. Pressing his palm over the wound, green mana surged from his hand and engulfed the abrasion.

"_First Aid_." He murmured, taking his hand away and briefly observing Lloyd's face. The boy watched the green light with a confused eye and shifted his gaze to Kratos once it had dissipated. Noticing his stare, Kratos turned his eyes downward and scanned the boy once more.

"Are you injured elsewhere?" Kratos asked as he checked over the boy's arms. He didn't seem to have any pressing wounds that were the result of his fall, but that meant very little. Usually the most serious wounds were internal. Frowning at the silence, Kratos glanced up to see that Lloyd was staring at him, his tapered eyebrows creased and his expression shocked. Raising an eyebrow at the stunned boy, Kratos matched his stare with his own rich eyes.

"Wh... what?" Lloyd asked, his face filled with incredulity. Kratos didn't break his gaze, but merely studied the boy to make sure both of his pupils were the same size.

"Are you hurt?" He repeated, his voice serious, soft and slow as he did not wish to scare the first grader further. Lloyd looked down at himself and shook his head.

"I, uh.. I think I'm alright." He replied, rubbing his arm that had the cut Kratos had just healed just to make sure it had healed. "That wasn't enough of a fall to do any real damage."

"Good." Kratos said as he stood back up and folded his arms. "Then you will be perfectly able to pick up every single piece of clothing that you flung out of that basket."

Lloyd's jaw dropped.

"What?!" Lloyd asked, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Are you serious?!" Kratos glanced over his shoulder at the boy and gave him a look that said 'Am I ever not?'.

"You created this mess, so it is only just that you clean it up." He replied stiffly, eyeing the boy with a stern stare. Lloyd looked at the huge area the clothing had spread and gaped at him.

"But that will take forever-" He protested, but Kratos held up a hand to silence him.

"Then I suggest you get started." He countered sharply. Lloyd opened his mouth to argue, but a cold glare from Kratos silenced him. Muttering something about 'going to be there until he was 40' and a 'sadistic, angelic loony', Lloyd picked up the basket and grudgingly began to stuff the clothes inside it.

Raising an eyebrow about the 'loony' comment he wasn't supposed to hear, Kratos turned and walked over to a stone ledge that stuck out of the side of a large wall. Sitting down on the surface, he ran a hand through his hair, closed his eyes and rested his back against the flat part of the wall.

Pausing, Kratos opened his eyes again and peered over to Lloyd, who had unceremoniously squashed some pants into the basket.

"And Lloyd-" he called out, still in his spot. Lloyd, who was still piling clothes into the basket, looked up from the shirt he was holding and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't forget to fold them." he covertly smirked and closed his eyes.

Lloyd almost ripped the shirt in half.

* * *

**Mwahah, chapter six is finally complete.**

**Lloyd: ........ I hate laundry.**

**Kratos: You create it, you clean it.**

**Lloyd: .... doesn't make me dislike it any less.**

**Genis: Uh, are we going to be in this? We kinda had all of three minutes in the story so far.**

**Me: Yes, but not yet. But fear not! I have plots for you all yet.**

**The rest: *swallows hard***

**Me: So please review!**


	7. Terrifying Revelations

**Author's Note: Hello all! I'm back once more and I was very surprised and thrilled when I saw that this had already gotten over 1000 views! To say I'm ecstatic would the understatement of the century. Anywho, I'm more motivated than ever with all of your views, favorites, alerts and reviews, so let's get this show underway.**

**Huge thanks sent to Stephy825, silent romantic, Destiny's Light, Kiomori and cyanbilbo for reviewing, as well as thank yous to all of you who read, favorited, alerted and so forth.**

**Also, I haven't forgotten about my other fic, **_**At Journey's Embarkment**_**, so don't worry those of you who read that. Once I get this fic caught up chapter wise, I will resume posting on both of them in tandem.**

**Mwhahahah..**

**Shall be glorious!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, the OVA would be translated into all of the different languages, dubbed and out where everyone can buy it RIGHT NOW.**

Chapter Seven: Terrifying Realizations

"Done!" Lloyd exclaimed as he tossed the last folded pair of socks into the basket. He had spent the last two and a half hours picking up all of the laundry that he'd flung when he hit the basket and, since he was such a small boy, it had taken him a lot longer than it would have in his normal body. Wiping the sweat from his face, Lloyd flopped onto the sand next to the basket and wearily gazed up at the sky. A cover of grey met his eyes as the sun had been completely drenched by clouds and hid the normally azure sky from few.

"Huh.. I wonder why it got so cloudy all of a sudden..." He said aloud as he watched a particularly lumpy, grey cloud float by. Rubbing his nose with his hand, Lloyd grinned and yawned.

"Maybe somebody in Cruxis is having a temper tantrum." He mused aloud, earning a laugh from himself at the thought of someone having a fit.

"There's no way that's happening though." Lloyd added, sitting up and scratching his cheek with his hand. "Maybe the weather's just getting weird. It is Tethe'alla after all. This could be normal for all I know." Stretching his arms out towards the sky, Lloyd glanced at his pale skin and poked it.

"Awesome, no stinging." He grinned at his arms. Fortunately for him, the sun had been completely shrouded by all of the clouds, so he was rescued from the chance of getting a nasty sunburn.

"That was lucky. I hate getting sunburns." He smiled happily, his chestnut hair bouncing about his face, and flipped over so he laid on his stomach. "Now then... what should I do now?" His eyes trailed from his arms across the ground until they rested on the still swordsman who sat on the ledge next to the stone wall, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sword.

His cherry eyes narrowing, Lloyd watched him for a good minute an a half, searching for any signs of movement. There was none. Kratos continued to occupy the stone ledge, still as a marble statue.

'Kratos could be sleeping.' Lloyd mused as he continued to stare at the older man. 'But he's an angel, isn't he? Angels don't need sleep.' The small boy folded his arms, rested them on top of the shirt pile and put his chin on top of his arms.

Sure Colette hadn't been able to sleep or taste or feel when she was turning into an angel, but that could have only been caused by the Cruxis Crystal and it stealing her heart. However, when she returned to normal, she had gotten all of her humanity back, albeit the shining magenta appendages that allowed her to fly. So, it could go either way with Kratos, since he was a seraphim of Cruxis.

'I wonder if he is asleep, though.' He sighed, his cheek planted firmly on his palm. 'Can he sleep? He never gets tired and can stay up longer than anyone I've ever seen, but he doesn't like tomatoes or the Professor's cooking, so he can probably taste.' Lloyd snorted and blew some hair out of his face.

'The awful taste of the Professor's cooking could jolt anyone's taste buds into working, regardless if they could taste before or not.' He grinned to himself, fiddling with the folded sleeve of a blue cotton shirt. Lloyd, sniffing for good measure, rubbed his nose and glanced back at Kratos once more. Hoisting the large wooden basket of clothes into his arms, freshly folded, the six year old toddled back towards the House of Guidance, the basket's width much bigger than his own. The trip back into the foyer of the chapel took much longer than he thought it would, but due to his small and diminished stature, it took a solid twenty minutes. Once at the back porch, Lloyd hauled the gigantic basket into the back door and plopped it down on the step. Wiping the sweat from his face, he groaned in pure exasperation and pushed the basket further in.

"How... Presea.. does this everyday... I'll never know.." He grunted desperately as he maneuvered the decrepit laundry basket around the many pews. Laden with clothes, the basket did not want to enter the chapel and was not going in without a fight. "This is.. really hard.."

"It goes over there dear."

Lloyd looked up from his hindrance of a basket to see the nun from before beaming down at him from where she stood at the alter, pointing to a corner near the stairs. The rag she had been using laid limp in her pointing hand to make it seem as though she only had a thumb and index finger.

"Oh.. thank you." Lloyd nodded politely and scooted the basket all the way to the corner until it was firmly squished against the stone wall. The nun smiled at him some more and then went back to the alter, a rag in hand and a determined expression on her face. Peering over his shoulder at the older lady, Lloyd looked back at the laundry basket and trotted over to where the nun was enthralled by her cleaning. As he stood next to her, he couldn't help but notice the enormous and precisely detailed sculpture that adorned the entirety of the wall, all of the figures covered with gold leaf and chiseled into perfection. The wall was covered by the gigantic alter which spanned up so it brushed against the high ceiling and jutted out from the wall with it's thickness.

"Wow.. that's pretty big." Lloyd whistled as he stared up at the architecture. "If they dumped this in a geyser, that would take Dad years to replicate." Tilting his head to the side, the tiny boy continued to gaze at the gargantuan piece of art that graced the room with its presence.

Effaces of angels, praying followers, and priests lined the border of the plated gold mural, as the Tower of Salvation trailed up to the ceiling. Beneath it at it's base was the small figure of a girl heading up the stairs of the tower, who Lloyd guessed to be the Chosen of Mana. At the very top of the sculpture, a beautiful woman graced the tip of the tower, her arms outstretched as if she was offering a large hug to the small boy who stared up at her.

"That must be the Goddess Martel.' Lloyd thought to himself, his hand on his chin as he thought. 'She's really pretty.' His eyes lingered on her briefly, but tore themselves away when he saw what was sculpted directly below her bosom.

Below her in a triangle formation, the masterfully crafted likenesses of three angels, all different and detailed with unique features, not like the bland angels below in the border, all stood primed in their positions, as if they were ready to spring out of the effigy at any moment. Underneath the engraved portraits of each angel, curvaceous and loopy writing trailed around the gold satin like ribbon that snaked around each sculpture. Frowning, Lloyd squinted his eyes to get a look at what was written, but could barely make it out because it was so high up, and what he could read, he didn't understand.

"Must be angelic." he sighed tiredly. "I wonder what it says..."

"Hm?" The nun looked up from where she dusted off the face of a particularly sour looking angel. "Did you say something, dear?" Lloyd tore his eyes from the art and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Uh, well, I was wondering what those angels up there were and what that writing up there said." He pointed to the ribbons of gold that ran underneath the engravings. "I can't really see the writing very well and what I could make out didn't make any sense." The nun peered up at the angels underneath the likeness of the Goddess Martel and smiled back down at him.

"These three engravings are the three high angels that assist the Goddess Martel with her will and guidance." Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the golden embossed portraits and frowned.

"So, those ones at the top help her more than the others do?" He asked, feigning ignorance in order to learn more. The nun nodded cheerily as she wiped off another angel.

"Yes dear. They maintain the order of this world, as per the teachings of Martel." She replied happily. "Because of the angels' dedication and will, the world is flourishing and alive."

'Yeah, maybe in most of Tethe'alla.' Lloyd grumbled internally. 'Seen Ozette recently? Someone really willed it into being squashed, that's for sure.' Still staring at the statue, the writing underneath the angel on the right shone in the sunlight and mocked him outright for not being able to read it.

"Okay, but what does that stuff say underneath it?" He asked, pointing a slender finger at the ribbon below the portraits.

"Oh, you must be talking about the angelic scripture." The nun replied as she pulled out a pair of reading glasses from her frock pocket. "Let's have a look see then." Placing the round glasses on her nose, the nun adjusted them and squinted up at the writing underneath the angels.

"Hm.." She murmured as she read. "The Seraphim, each with their own traits and skills, aid the Goddess Martel in her good work. Alongside the Goddess, these angels surpass all the rest and address the nature of the worlds as is her will and that of Cruxis."

Seraphim.

Lloyd's eyes shot up towards the busts again and the cherrywood orbs narrowed slightly. There were only a few angels that had gained the title of Seraphim. Four to be exact.

And one of them was outside basking against a wall.

"Seraphim?" Lloyd repeated, his attention completely fixated on the older nun. "What else does it say? Is there anything else on there about them?" The nun, mistaking his heightened attention for childish enthusiasm, patted the boy on the head, which made Lloyd wince.

"Oh, aren't you such a devote boy?" She cooed, then turning back to the statue. Placing a hand on the surface of the artwork, the nun leaned in and squinted, trying to read the worn script.

"The Goddess Martel heads all of the Seraphim, as is her divine Right." She read carefully, the glasses slipping down her nose. "Directly at her side is the Angel of Radiance."

Lloyd stared up at the androgynous bust that rested at Martel's right with an avid intensity.

"Angel of Radiance?"

"Yes dear." The nun nodded as she pointed to the angelic bust that rested very closely next to the smiling woman in the sculpture. The effigy sported long hair, a simplistic, yet snug outfit from what he could see, and looked adoringly at the Goddess, the expression in his eyes filled with warmth. Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the worshipping angelic loon and turned his eyes to the nun, who was almost nose to nose with the writing.

"The Angel of Radiance is entirely devoted to the Goddess." The nun reported as she scanned the plaque underneath the bust. "As per her will, he executes any order and fulfills any wish that the Goddess may have. He also paves the way for justice and order for all the inhabitants of the world. His will is that of the Goddess."

Lloyd eyed the bust warily, his expression skeptical.

'It's official. That Yggdrasill guy is obsessed to the point of being creepy.' He grimaced, a chill running up his spine. The nun, not having noticed Lloyd's disgusted expression, moved downward to the next bust, one that had a ponytail resting on his shoulder, half lidded eyes and an inkling of a sarcastic smile.

"In all the world, none have ever possessed the wit or cunning of the Angel of Reason. Sent forth at times of unrest, the Angel of Reason shows others the error of their ways and sets them back on the path of Righteousness once more." The nun read the plaque and dusted him off with her rag, which sent dust spiraling into the air.

Lloyd paused and blinked at the statue, lost for words.

'Wait... that angel looks like Yuan.' He pieced together in his head. '... that guy's the Angel of Reason? Of what? 'Reasons why I need to rethink my comebacks?'' The boy shook his head tiredly and scratched his cheek.

'If he's the Angel of Reason, then we're all in trouble.' He added, itching underneath his bandage with two fingers. Lloyd skimmed over each of the busts the sister had read so far, but his eyes screeched to a halt when he noticed the fourth and finally depiction on the wall.

The portrait, which depicted a man with spiky hair, cool, calculating eyes and a blank expression, did not stare back at him, but rather looked off into the wall, as if too bored to bother.

'That's gotta be Kratos.' Lloyd growled as he eyed the effigy with a glare. No one could look that fierce yet so bored out of his mind at the same time, regardless if it was a statue or not. If Kratos was that angel on the statue, Lloyd wanted to find out whatever he could about him so he could find a weakness or even a hint about who he really was.

'This nun knows a bunch about the other seraphim. I bet she knows about Kratos too, and what she knows, I'm gonna find out.' Lloyd frowned at it and raised his skinny arm into the air.

"What about that one?" He asked as innocently as he could, pointing to the angelic sculpture that was attempting to bore a hole in the wall with it's gold eyes. The nun, who was losing her glasses down her nose, glanced over at the bust Lloyd had pointed out and walked over to where she could get a better look. Pushing them up with her finger, the nun shifted over to the last bust, one that was positioned over to the lower left and began to read. However, she paused midway and turned slightly paler.

"Oh... him." The nun shook her head, though her complexion was still pale. "Probably the most terrifying of them all."

Lloyd paused and scrunched up his tiny nose in confusion.

"Terrifying?" He asked, looking up at the bust. He knew Kratos had the personality of a stump most of the time, and when he was up against Lloyd in combat, he could be pretty scary, but the nun was unnaturally wary of the embossed gold, as if it was planning to unleash an attack without warning.

"Yes." The nun murmured, dusting it off. "I don't need the plaque to tell you who he is. He's legendary." Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the middle aged nun and then looked back at the still portrait.

"Who is he then?" He pressed, his eyes lingering on the bust.

The nun sighed and brushed her habit out of her face.

"The Angel of Death."

Lloyd froze like someone had stuffed ice down his back. His eyes lingered on the sculpted effigy while he stiffened and slowly, he turned his head back to face the nun, eyes wider than he would have ever admitted.

"Angel... of Death?" He repeated, making sure he heard correctly. The nun nodded and leaned in so she could see the plaque.

"Yes, probably one of the most powerful beings to have ever have graced this earth." she replied, dusting off the aged plaque. "He's quite the angelic entity. A master of combat and dealer of merciless justice to those who defy the will of the Goddess Martel." The tiny boy went silent, his eyes now locked on the face of the Angel of Death, desperately trying to find a weakness within the golden likeness.

"Uh, huh..I see." Lloyd nodded slowly, masking his alarmed face with curiosity. "What does the plaque say?"

The nun looked down at Lloyd and glanced back at the writing underneath the indifferent image of the angel.

"In times of great peril and discord, in which the path of the Angel of Light has been lost and the Angel of Reason has failed in his pursuit to quell the storm of unrest, the Angel of Death shall descend upon the land. Upon doing so, the Angel of Death will deal swift and just retribution to those who shall plunge the world into Darkness, as per the will of Martel." The nun then bent over to the plaque and frowned as she read the last sentence underneath the large writing.

"All those who do not accept the will of Martel and Cruxis be damned by the Angel of Death."

Lloyd swallowed hard. If anyone didn't accept the will of Martel or Cruxis, it was him. He had not been nor was willing to sacrifice either world or Colette and, in doing so, had denied Yggdrasill and Cruxis to the highest degree. Normally that would not have bothered him in the slightest, but he was currently in the body of a six year old boy, and the ANGEL OF DEATH was right outside, just waiting to smite him into next year.

'I'm gonna get smitten....' Lloyd moaned in his head. 'And it's not gonna be good.' Mumbling thanks to the nun for reading the plaques, the six year old boy skirted out of the alter room and through the back door that led to the docks and the sand.

His eyes scanned the area out back, where he saw the smiter of six year olds. Kratos still rested against the wall, his eyes closed, and it was very obvious he had not moved at all the entire time Lloyd had been inside.

Deeply wishing he had his swords, Lloyd gingerly walked towards Kratos, his eyes never leaving the man's face. Every step he took, the voice in the back of Lloyd's head that represented his inkling of what common sense he had screamed at him to turn around and run like his life depended on it. However, Lloyd drowned it out, his tapered eyebrows fixated downward and his face focused.

'I run now, and he'll notice for sure.' He told himself stubbornly. 'Besides, I'm not afraid of him. Sure he's insanely powerful and I'm unarmed and now a squirt, not to mention that he could have wiped the floor with me when I was in my normal body... but just because that's true doesn't mean I'm scared of him.' Lloyd eyed the stationary swordsman and steeled his gaze. Sobering himself, Lloyd slowly approached Kratos, his arm and hand outstretched. Even though he knew it was dangerous, and he knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself very well, Lloyd kept going. He was going to prove that he wasn't intimidated by Kratos, if not to the seraph, then to himself.

Once he reached the ledge, Lloyd climbed on top of it and walked along the flat surface until he stood next to the angel.

'Here goes nothing.' He grunted, taking a deep breath and prodded Kratos' shoulder with his index finger.

"Kratos.. Kratos." He called, holding onto his nerve with all the grip he had. As soon as Lloyd poked him in the shoulder, the angel opened an eye at the boy and watched him calmly, his wine eyes lingering on the boy. Lloyd matched his gaze and straightened himself out.

"I'm done with the laundry." He reported stiffly.

"Did you deliver it?" The seraph asked, not having moved from his spot. Lloyd turned his face into an affronted look and his hair ruffled by itself in accordance to his attitude.

"Yeah, I did." Lloyd nodded tersely, eyebrows in a frown. Kratos raised an eyebrow at him and watched the boy skeptically.

"Good." He replied calmly, though his eyes still were filled with skepticism. Lloyd snorted and folded his arms against his chest.

"You don't need to act so skeptical and stuff." He stated hotly. "I do know how to do laundry, y'know."

Kratos sighed and readjusted himself so he was no longer leaning against the stone wall.

"I was merely noting that you were capable of more than just flinging laundry about the beach." He replied coolly. Lloyd's ego deflated sharply like a balloon struck by a pin and he glowered at the older man who had bested him at words.

"Yeah, yeah.." Lloyd glowered, annoyed that he couldn't think of a good comeback. "Well, oh yeah, says you."

Kratos glanced at him and raised an eyebrow again.

"... Is that really the best you can come up with?" He inquired. Lloyd blushed and glared at the angel some more.

"... maybe." He muttered, scratching underneath his bandaged forehead with two fingers.

'Stinking bandage... why does it have to itch so much?' The annoyed boy grunted to himself sharply. As he rubbed it, Lloyd suddenly felt a hand other than his own on his forehead and froze. Shooting his eyes upward, he noticed that Kratos had placed his hand on Lloyd's forehead and was observing the boy with avid interest.

"Your wound, does it still hurt?" He asked, tugging at the corner of the bandage gently as if he was checking that it wasn't too tightly wound. Lloyd grunted at the feeling of his head being tugged and shook his head.

"No, just itches." The boy replied, pulling his bandage out of Kratos' grasp. "I'll be okay." Taking his hand back, the angel frowned and stood up, so he towered over the small boy. Not wanting him to see that he was nervous, Lloyd steeled his glare and curled his tiny hands into fists. Kratos, not at all intimidated by the tiny boy, turned around and looked at the sky.

"Good. Then get ready, for we are going to leave in ten minutes." He stated, his back to the boy. Lloyd blinked and frowned.

"What? Going?" He asked, confirming what he heard. Sighing, Kratos glanced back at him and nodded once.

"Yes. If you need to do something, be quick. We leave in ten minutes." Kratos repeated, his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword. Lloyd stared at him, mouth ajar.

"You mean I'm not staying here?" He asked, his voice filled with surprise and shock, seeing as how he had figured Kratos would have wanted to ditch him the first chance he could. Kratos, however, shook his head once and glanced over his shoulder at the first grader.

"No. You are going to come as well." He replied. "I have.. use of you." Lloyd frowned and eyed Kratos suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" He asked curiously. "What use would that be?"

"... that is not something you need to know." Kratos replied cryptically, before he began towards the House of Guidance without another word. Lloyd watched him go and glowered in annoyance.

''Use of you'... what's he mean by that? I know he's got the whole cryptic thing, but come on!' The boy glared at the receding back of the angelic being as he strode across the field. 'And where the heck are we going?! That's what I'd like to know. It's not like he needs my help, if anything he'd be trying to get rid of me-'

As he thought that, another idea cropped up in Lloyd's mind, which made his blood turn to ice and a sinking feeling erupt in the pit of his stomach. If he, the Angel of Death, was as devoted to Cruxis as the nun had said, and from what he'd seen when Kratos revealed where his true allegiance laid, Kratos WOULD be trying to get rid of Lloyd at any cost. That would have been tripled especially if the small boy was all that was standing between Cruxis and Colette. Plus, Kratos also had the advantage of him being weakened by his younger body. If there was any time to deal with him permanently, now would be perfect.

'Wait.. but if he wanted me dead, why did he help me?' Lloyd pointed out to himself, but a nagging voice that sounded much like the Professor rang in his head.

'He probably did so in order to turn you over to Yggdrasill personally. If you were dead, how would the head angel get to enjoy killing you as he pleased?' Lloyd peered up from where he stared at the ground, his head heavy like a lead anchor.

'That's where we're going... Derris Kharlan.' He nodded to himself. 'That's where he's taking me. He knows I can't fight back. I don't have any weapons and.. I mean, look at me! I'm a squirt. Not a challenge for him.'

Letting out a thoroughly defeated breath, Lloyd sat down on the ledge and buried his miniature face in his hands.

"... I really shouldn't have folded all that laundry."

* * *

"Woo, I needed that." Zelos sighed happily as he strolled out of the bathroom, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. Yuan, on the other hand, looked less than amused.

"Alright, you've gone to the bathroom. Now that you're done wasting time, please proceed to the ship." Yuan instructed tersely. He had just spent the past twenty minutes standing outside the bathroom and to say it annoyed him would be to say that Flanoir was chilly. Zelos stretched,yawned and grinned at the irritated angel before him.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever floats your little boat." He replied wryly, a goofy grin plastered on his young face. "Where's this cheer ship anyway?" Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's this way." He gestured back down the hall. The smug chosen mock saluted him and trotted down the hallway, his oversized coat trailing behind him like a wedding dress. Yuan shook his head tiredly and walked after the chipper boy, glad that he was finally leaving. His day had started out bad and had gotten worse by the hour. It also didn't help that his migraine was steadily growing stronger as well. At that point, all he really wanted now was to go back to his office and ice his forehead.

Once the pair reached the ship's bay, an enormous ship veered into view, it's oaken hull finished with royal blue and steel grey painted about it. Glancing at the rushed activity on the ship's deck, Yuan nodded approvingly and shifted his gaze back to Zelos, who was poking himself in the forehead.

"There is the transport ship that I previously mentioned. I hope it is suitable for you to travel in, Chosen One." The aggravated angel pointed to the large vessel that sported blue and silver paint about it's hull, though at this point, the idea of mailing Zelos was becoming more satisfying by the minute. Zelos eyed it for a minute or two, his chin in his hand, and shrugged.

"Well, I guess it'll do." He sighed, brushing crimson hair from his face. "Not as flashy as I would have liked, but it'll work until I get back to Meltokio." Yuan eyed Zelos crankily.

'The only way it would be flashy enough for you is if it had a neon sign on it with your name in bright pink letters across the side of it.' He grumbled to himself. Shaking off his thoughts, Yuan flicked some dust off his cape and folded his arms.

"Now then. While you may be in that diminished state, you are to still report often about the statues and whereabouts of Lloyd, should you learn anything." He stated firmly. "I trust you are still aware that the nature of our agreement is not broken merely because you resemble a young child."

"Yeah, yeah, Gramps I get it already." Zelos yawned. "Just because I'm a squirt doesn't mean I get to play hooky." The boy then turned his nose up in a pout and folded his arms against his chest.

"Killjoy." He added, his voice sulky. Yuan's cheek twitched at being called 'Gramps', but he brushed it off like he had the dust on his cape.

"Regardless, I am reminding you that procuring Lloyd is of most importance." He repeated, eyes narrowed in a stern glare. "If you learn anything, report it."

"Alright, alright." The young chosen brushed away Yuan's glare of doom and strode up the dock. Yuan snorted, watching him go and head back out the door. Though, something didn't feel quite right, like he was missing something. Shaking his head, the Renegade Commander slid into the side hall just in time to miss the full sensation of hearing the ship take off while he had a migraine. However, regardless of the fact he missed most of the blaring noise, what he did hear made him wince in pain and hold his forehead with his left hand.

'Whatever.' Yuan snorted as he stalked down the hall, his cape billowing behind him. His head hurt far too much for him to care exactly what it was he had missed, since the throbbing had escalated exponentially when the mana levels fluctuated violently in the air. All he really cared about was going back to his office and lying down for a few hours. That sometimes helped.

Once he opened the door to his office, Yuan shut the door, locked it and swiftly made for his chair. Sitting down in the plush leather seat behind his desk, Yuan sighed thankfully and laid his head against the cushioned headrest.

"Finally... peace." He smiled and massaged his temples with his right hand. Groaning and holding his head up at an angle, Yuan pulled open his sole desk drawer, a drawer that reached from underneath the table top to the floor below it, and reached a hand into it for his headache medication.

"Where is that bottle..." He groaned as he reached, still not looking down as his head hurt too much to move it.

Rustling a little, the drawers' hands reached up and handed the bottle of headache tablets over, placing them in the palm of his hand. Taking the bottle, Yuan unscrewed the cap, took one tablet from the bottle and replaced the cap with a flick of his wrist. Leaning back in his chair, he let out a sigh and relaxed.

However, his relaxation was short lived at best. Opening his eyes sharply, the seraph frowned, eyebrow raised.

Drawers didn't have hands.

Yuan's eyes shot downward and his jaw almost dropped.

Gazing back at him was Sylvarant's miniscule Chosen, her tiny body squished into the drawer of his desk. She fit in the drawer for the most part, but her gigantic dress puddled around her so she looked like a white and blue rose with a yellow core.

Yuan blinked and stared at her in silent incredulity while the shock sank in.

"Hi." Colette smiled, her cheeks rosy and eyes shining. At that point, Yuan's initial shock wore off.

"Chosen One, what are you doing here?!" The seraphim demanded, his eyes widened slightly in surprise and annoyance.

"Uh... eheh.. I lost something?" Colette smiled innocently at Yuan, her long blond tresses bouncing about her face. Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose and rested his arms against the surface of his desk.

'I'm about to lose something... my mind.'

* * *

"Thank you for your assistance." Kratos said politely to the nun, who was now sweeping up a bunch of the dust that had collected on the floor from her cleaning.

"You are perfectly welcome, young man." The nun smiled at him. He seemed like such polite, devote young traveler and his type of personality was always welcome at the House of Guidance. "But what will you do now that he is well?"

Kratos looked down at the small boy that stood silently next to him, his head low and his eyes staring at the ground. Raising an eyebrow, he sighed and resumed his gaze at her.

"I suspect I shall go back to Meltokio." He replied coolly. The nun warmly beamed at him and then at the boy next to him before she continued to sweep.

"Oh, you must work at the Church of Martel branch there. How lovely." She replied and then turned her attention to the young boy at his side.

"Have you been there, sweetie? If you haven't, you'll be so amazed by such a large city." The nun cooed at him. The small boy turned his head up to look at her and his face was heartbreaking.

His expression didn't have any emotion in it at all, but when he looked up at her, his eyes were so doleful, it could have driven anyone to tears. The nun frowned in concern, her eyes lingering on the first grader in front of her.

"Honey, what's wrong?" She asked worried. Kratos looked down at him as well and eyed him with intrigue. Shaking his head, Lloyd turned his eyes downward again.

".. It's nothing." He replied, his voice flat and full of sorrow. Turning her eyes away from Lloyd, she glanced at Kratos. Meeting her gaze, he sighed and some of his auburn hair fell in front of his face.

"Probably, the realization of what being found alone in the Forest means must have fully sunk in." The young swordsman responded, his tone calm and collected. "Most likely he had companions originally while in the forest. However, I only found him."

The nun's heart fell to pieces.

"Oh, you poor thing!" She gushed and rushed the boy into a big hug, lifting him the air. Kratos eyed her carefully as she squished Lloyd in her arms, since the last time he had turned an unsettling shade of indigo. Remembering what had happened last time, the sister then set Lloyd back gently onto the ground and ruffled his hair.

"Don't you worry, sweetie." She cooed. "I'm sure you'll find your friends. And you have this young man here to help you as well." The small boy looked up at her, his eyes full of sorrow, and watched her for a moment.

"I hope so." He whispered and hugged her around the neck. The nun, startled at his sudden affection, smiled and hugged him back. The boy stayed there for a good minute, before he let go and stepped back.

"Thank you." Lloyd nodded, smiling at her. Smiling, the nun patted his head and stood up, her habit now covered in dust. She dusted herself off for good measure, beamed at the boy and noticed his older companion step forward. Placing his hand on Lloyd's shoulder, which caused him to look up, the young man eyed him seriously and gestured to the door with a curt nod.

"Let's go, Lloyd." The swordsman stated sternly, his hand on the boy's shoulders. Then nodding once in a silent farewell, Kratos left without another word out the door. Still looking over at him, Lloyd nodded somberly and readjusted the brown cloth backpack that had been slung over his arms.

".. okay, Kratos." He nodded, looking thoroughly pitiful, and followed after him out the door, onto the path that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"May we meet again, Lloyd." The sister called, waving at him. Lloyd glanced over his shoulder at her, smiled sadly and waved back. After he did, he turned, brown backpack on his shoulders and marched after Kratos, his scarf billowing behind him.

'So his name is Lloyd. What a pretty name.' The nun thought. 'And the other's name is Kratos. Hm.. how strange. He has the same name as one of the Four Seraphim.' She dusted off the statue some more with her dirty cleaning rag and laughed.

'And he's so serious for one so young, not to mention his stern expression. There was a lot of serious experience, instead of youthful vigor that's seen in most people his age. Perhaps he thinks he is one of the-' The nun laughed, but her laughter trailed when she looked at the representation of the Angel of Death. The figure did have an uncanny likeness to the young man that had graced the House of Guidance just minutes ago. His cool, piercing eyes, his face shape, shoulder structure and... his hair. The spikes of hair were.. perfect. Far too perfect to just be replicated out of worship and adoration. That.. and his expression, calm, bored, yet terrifying, were exact to the last inch.

Come to think of it... his clothes were awfully peculiar for a simple swordsman and he did say he worked for the Church.. in a way..

Gaping, the nun dropped the cloth and backed away the enormous effigy, eyes the size of dinner plates and her habit askew.

"Sweet Merciful Martel...." The nun gasped. "He was.. the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death... has descended onto the land... '

Doing several 'Hail Martel's, she furiously ran back into the inner sanctum to pray like she'd never prayed before.

* * *

**Wha ha, another chapter done! Now onto Meltokio!**

**Zelos: That'll have me in it right?**

**Me: Of course. And there will be another.... but you'll just have to wait.**

**Zelos: Awww, not fair.**

**Me: Not in the slightest.**

**Please Review!**


	8. On the Road to Meltokio

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Due to an abundance of free time because college classes were cancelled until thursday, I managed to get another chapter underway. Woo! **

**So, thank you to all who alerted, favorited and whatnot. Also, huge thank yous to silent romantic, Destiny's Light, Stephy825 and Kiomori for reviewing! It's really satisfying to see all your reviews!**

**So without further ado, here's the disclaimer.**

**I don't own ToS, because if I did, you wouldn't have to choose between Kratos and Zelos and Yuan would join the party. That's my ideal ending right there, mmhm.**

Chapter Eight: On the Way to Meltokio

Kratos frowned. Not that was any different from usual, but this time he actually had a good reason for his stern expression that eyed the rocky path in front of him.

Lloyd had been far too quiet. No complaining over the length of the journey, no attempts at badgering answers out of him, not even one insult had been uttered the entire time they had been walking. All he did was quietly follow the angelic swordsman, his hands clutching the slings of his backpack, and look up at the sky, watching the clouds go by. While Lloyd had enjoyed staring at the sky during the previous journey, he usually had quite the commentary, but he hadn't spouted a word once the four long hours they had been traveling.

'... hm.. it's quite odd for Lloyd to be that silent for this long.' He thought to himself as he continued down the path, the small boy trotting after him. Kratos sighed shallowly and discreetly glanced at Lloyd out of the corner of his eye without turning his head. Lloyd was still staring at the now dimming twilight sky, flecks of gold and red dancing about his cherrywood eyes.

'Perhaps he is feeling hungry.' The swordsman mused silently. 'That would cause his blood sugar to fall too low, which would explain his lethargic nature.' Kratos peered back to the front of the path and took in their location. The House of Guidance had long since left his sight, only to be replaced with a hilly and grass ridden terrain.

'We're about two hours away from Meltokio, though perhaps it would be wise to stop here.' He debated. 'He may have been rather resilient, but as he is now, he won't last much longer.'

Halting suddenly, Kratos looked to the side of the path and noticed a small patch of earth that was devoid of grass or vegetation, with the exception of a lone oak tree.

'That will work for now.' He approved. 'While it is not Meltokio, it will do for the time being.' As he thought, a dull feeling hit his body and a boyish 'oof' sounded through the air as Lloyd walked right into his leg and landed sharply on the ground.

Covered in dust, Lloyd sat on the path behind Kratos, his hand on his head. The boy blinked twice and peered up at Kratos, curiosity written on his face over why the angel had stopped. Kratos watched the boy back for a moment and, latching his hand onto the handle of the backpack, hoisted Lloyd back onto his feet.

"We're stopping here for now." He said flatly, his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword. Lloyd eyed the sword carefully before he walked over to the patch of dirt and sat with a thump. Kratos watched the boy briefly before he too adjourned to the stray barren area.

The site in question looked like a weathered campground, popular among the many travelers who had made use of it in times past. The fire pit was in fairly decent condition, with fresh embers lying in wait of the next guest to grace the area with their presence. The lack of grass around the rest stop also indicated that the spot had seen quite a number of travelers over the years.

Momentarily noting the conditions of the area, Kratos eyed the fire spot and glanced at Lloyd out of the corner of his eye.

'The sun will set soon. I need to quickly start a fire, lest he become too cold.' Normally, the temperature of the outdoors never bothered Kratos much, if at all. Many years of being outside at night coupled with the angelic ability to drown out certain sensations nulled him to most of the chilling atmosphere. Also, compared the cold emptiness of Derris Kharlan, the nippy night air was positively scorching.

Still, Lloyd didn't have that kind of experience, and any he did have would have been thrown out the window since he shrank.

"I will be right back." Kratos stated flatly, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I'm going to collect some wood. Stay here in this spot." Lloyd glanced up from where he sat, stared at Kratos and then nodded sharply. Then he clamped his hands firmly on his sock covered calves and hunched his shoulders, eying the fireplace with a vengeance. Kratos raised an eyebrow at Lloyd's sudden stiffness and his eyes narrowed slightly.

'.. what is that boy up to?' He asked himself as he walked off in the direction of the woods in search of kindling.

Ten minutes later, Kratos returned from his excursion and saw that Lloyd hadn't moved from where he sat before. In fact, he seemed to be trying not to move at all. Kratos sighed. Lloyd had taken what he had said before a bit more seriously than he had hoped.

"Lloyd.. when I said 'stay in this spot', I meant the campsite, not turn yourself into a statue." He said candidly, placing the bits of brush, branches and wood into the fireplace. Blinking, the boy looked up at Kratos, turned a light pink and then sheepishly shifted his gaze back at the empty pit. Shaking his head exasperatedly at Lloyd, Kratos turned his attention back to the pit and raised his arm, his palm pointed at the piled wood.

"_Fire ball_"

Fire the size of a tennis ball lobbed its way into the air and struck the pile of debris with a crack, instantly setting it ablaze. Lloyd jumped back a little, but quickly regained his composure and taciturnly plunked down again, his eyes fixated on the crackling tower of flames in the pit.

After the fire had stabilized, the angel stood back up and stepped away from the burning wood. Hearing a crack, Kratos frowned and his eyes shifted to the boy. Lloyd apparently had picked up a spare piece of brush and was poking the fire with it.

"Lloyd, don't poke the fire with a stick." He sighed, having hoped the boy would have figured out that children and sticks on fire don't make a very good combination. Lloyd looked at Kratos, looked at his stick and, groaning unhappily, tossed the stick into the fire. Eyeing Lloyd to make sure he was stick free, the older man walked over to the lone tree that sat on the edge of the site.

"Are you hungry?" The angelic swordsman asked offhandedly, sitting in front of the tree and sinking his back into the trunk. Lloyd shook his head in a 'no', but his stomach said otherwise. Like barrages of rolling thunder, the petite boy's stomach echoed in rumbling choruses of agony and protested at the apparent lack of food. Giving Lloyd an incredibly skeptical look, Kratos tiredly sighed and placed another piece of wood into the erupting fire.

"There's a sandwich in your backpack." Kratos gestured to the cloth bag on Lloyd's back. "You should eat it so you do not get ill." Lloyd watched Kratos skeptically, but pulled off his backpack and reached a hand into the sack. He rummaged through the pack for a minute, but eventually retrieved a square package wrapped in brown paper. Holding it to his ear, the small boy listened as hard as he could for any sounds that might have come from it. Kratos sighed.

"Lloyd, it's a sandwich, not an explosive." He replied candidly, his back resting against the tree. Lloyd glanced up at Kratos, raised an eyebrow as he was still not convinced, and gingerly pulled back the wrapper.

Inside the paper laid a whole wheat sandwich with a brown filling that leaked around the edges. A tad surprised it actually was a sandwich and not in fact a bomb, Lloyd pulled open the edge of the sandwich to see what kind it was. The thick brown substance caught his eye, and he ran his finger around the edge. Once it was completely coated in the foreign substance, the boy licked his finger and beamed.

"Mm, peanut butter." the boy grinned at his dinner and took a large bite out it. After a moment, he looked down at his sandwich again and smiled broadly.

"Hey, there's bananas in it!" Lloyd exclaimed cheerily, peering down at his sandwich. Kratos observed Lloyd in silence, not moving from his place against the tree. The boy continued to beam at his sandwich, looked up at Kratos, and his smile slowly faded to the solemn look he sported before. Kratos raised an eyebrow at him in a silent question, and Lloyd returned to eating his sandwich in reticent muteness. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kratos closed his eyes and leaned more of his weight onto the trunk of the tree behind him.

Silence filled the air, with the exception of the fire cracking against the summer air and the steady, yet quiet cadence of Lloyd eating. The quiet bore down on the air heavily like clotted cream spread over a scone, until the sound of a throat clearing finally broke it.

".. so, when are we going?" Lloyd asked, his voice beaten and a little pitiful, his hands clutching the mutilated remains of what used to be his food. Kratos opened an eye, peered back at the boy and his eyes narrowed. Locking irises with Lloyd, he observed the boy briefly and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He inquired, his attention completely focused on Lloyd. He had not been thrown off his guard by any of Lloyd's regular banter of questions he bombarded the angel with when they had been traveling during the World Regeneration journey, but something about the boy's question didn't sound right. When he had always asked about the destination, he had always started with 'where', not 'when'.

"When are we going where exactly?"

Lloyd sighed and brushed his chestnut hair out of his face. Still holding his pieces of sandwich in his lap, Lloyd stared down into it and closed his eyes.

"Cruxis. When are going to Cruxis?" He repeated slowly. "We're probably about a week or so away from the Tower of Salvation, so I was curious if you were going to take me straight there or did you have something else to do first." Kratos' eyebrows shot upward and he didn't reply, his eyes set on the little boy on the other side of the fire. Lloyd didn't notice his sudden silence, but instead watched what remained of his meal sit in his lap.

"When are we going?" Lloyd asked again, looking up from his food so he stared at the fire. "You're gonna turn me over to the Cruxis, right? I'm a pretty big thorn in your side and all, plus Yggdrasill would probably be thrilled if I was out of the way." He swished his white scarf over his shoulders and sighed tiredly, his large eyes watching the fire.

Kratos stared at Lloyd, his rich eyes watching the boy with complete incredulity. Did Lloyd really think that he was a prisoner after all? Was he completely convinced that Kratos would hand him over to Yggdrasill and the angels without so much as a second thought? A stabbing sensation of guilt in his stomach made him wince internally, though he didn't dare show it. He instead eyed Lloyd with solemn silence, watching his son gaze into the fire.

"I'd just like to know." Lloyd added sadly, smiling forlornly as he watched the flames lick around the log. "If I know when, I figure I can enjoy the rest of my time out in the open better."

Kratos' felt another stab of guilt.

He did.

In front of Kratos sat his son, a small, unarmed and now virtually defenseless boy, who watched the flames with a saddened passion like an old man who saw death's shadow at the door. Lloyd was certain that since he had been found in such a predicament, he Kratos, would take full advantage of the situation and turn him in to the one person Kratos so hoped to overthrow. Of course, Lloyd did not know that, but still.

"So, is it going to take a while or-" Lloyd began again, but Kratos held up a hand to stop him.

"Lloyd." He stated firmly in a commanding tone. Lloyd glanced up at Kratos, his cherry eyes heavy.

"What?" The boy asked. Kratos frowned and sighed shallowly.

"I'm not going to hand you over to Cruxis." He replied quietly, part of his bangs drifting into his face so they obscured his eyes.

Lloyd's jaw dropped.

"You're... you're not?" The boy asked, thoroughly taken aback in shock. Kratos shook his head once and folded his arms against his chest.

"Of course not. I have no wish or need for you to be taken to Cruxis." He replied curtly. "Nor did I ever plan to take you there. So you needn't worry about that." Lloyd blinked and stared down at the fire in front of him.

".... oh." He muttered, his cheeks turning deep burgundy with embarrassment. Rolling his eyes briefly at Lloyd's chagrined face, Kratos rested against the tree behind him and watched the boy carefully. Lloyd seemed to be fiddling with something in his mind, more likely he was trying to figure out exactly what was going on right under his nose.

"So, you really weren't planning on handing me over to Yggdrasill?" The first grader asked again, making sure he heard right. Kratos nodded once and more of his hair fell into his face.

"That was not my intention, anyway." He replied softly. "Unless, of course, you wish to go."

Lloyd's eyes widened slightly and he glared at the fire in response.

"Uh uh, no way, I don't think so." He responded sharply. "I'm gonna take Yggdrasill down, make no mistake, but even I know that I'm no match for him now that I have the body of a little kid." His shoulders drooped and Lloyd looked up at the sky.

"As much as I hate it, I know he'd whup me without so much as blinking." The tiny boy added. Kratos snorted quietly and shook his head, a small smile etching its way into his face. Lloyd looked over at the relaxed angel and frowned.

"What's so funny?" He asked hotly. Kratos glanced over at him briefly before he shifted his gaze upward.

"Although your stature is diminished, you have managed to mature emotionally, albeit it small in quantity." The angel replied quietly, a spike of auburn hair drifting into his face as he leaned against the tree. "Though, I must ask. Is that why you have been uncharacteristically dejected for the past four hours?"

Lloyd glared at Kratos and rubbed the back of his hair with his left hand.

"Well... yeah, I guess so." He nodded. "I thought I was fish bait. It's not easy to be really chipper when you think you're being lead to be crushed into a thousand pieces." Lloyd sighed and stared into the fire, his eyes tired and thick again.

"... How Colette did it.. I don't think I'll ever know." He murmured to himself, his arms crossed and resting on his knees. Kratos heard him, though he knew Lloyd's comment had not been meant for his ears, so instead of replying, he watched the six year old and shook his head.

"Quite the drama king, aren't you?" He commented coolly, yet there was a hint of wryness in his voice, "And I believed Tethe'alla's Chosen to be the most melodramatic of your friends. Apparently I was wrong."

"Hey!" Lloyd exclaimed indignantly, but was cut off as a huge yawn overtook his protest. Covering his mouth with his sleeve, he yawned again and stretched out in an arc, his other arm over his head. Kratos raised an eyebrow at him. It was plainly obvious that the boy was exhausted, but whether or not he would allow himself to see it was a completely different matter.

"You're tired. All of the traveling has worn out your system." He commented quietly. "You should sleep." Lloyd snorted and shook his head, arms folded.

"I'm fine. I don't need-" He replied tersely, but another yawn cut him off. ".. sleep." Kratos' gaze didn't shift.

"Get some sleep, Lloyd."

"But I-"

"Sleep now. You can argue later."

"But... oh, alright." Sighing pointedly so he got across he was only humoring Kratos, Lloyd curled up next to the fire and flopped on his side, his face directed at the warm flames that licked around the log. The boy then took his scarf and squished it so it resembled a white cloth pillow. Yawning once more, Lloyd stuffed his head onto the makeshift pillow and, within a few minutes, was out cold, fast asleep in dreamland.

'That was fast.' Kratos exhaled slowly and turned his face upward so he was staring at the night sky. 'Perhaps worrying himself into oblivion took more of a toll on his system than I thought.'

After regarding the boy for a couple of minutes, he then began his nightly ritual of counting the stars to stave off his boredom.

'One.. two.. three...' Kratos murmured in his head. His record of the night before was about 104,658 stars, so he was sure he could check off more of them. Whether or not he recounted some stars here and there, the effect was still the same. It kept him from getting completely bored when he was traveling with others and had to stop in order to let them rest. If it had just been himself, there wouldn't be any reason for him to have stopped from his trek across the fields.

'After all, I'm probably more intimidating than anything I'd find out and about at night.' He added wryly to himself. 'Forty three.. forty four...'

"Mmph..."

Kratos broke his staring contest with the sky and turned his attention to Lloyd.. or rather, the lump that was tangled in his scarf. A massive piling of fabric draped across his face and obscured it from view. He would have almost seemed decapitated, but the snoring echoing from under the cloth prevented the complete picture.

Kratos looked at him, sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Honestly.' He swiftly stood back up, crossed to the other side of the campsite, and picked up the boy, covered head and all. Lloyd was too far gone to be shaken awake by his sudden change in elevation, so he instead just sagged limply against Kratos' grip. Eyeing the boy with a half lidded expression, he brought him over near the tree and set him down again.

'He'll get too entangled to sleep properly, plus it will be safer if he is within my arm's reach anyway.' The former faux mercenary justified as he reclaimed his spot in front of the tree. 'It will be much easier to fend off any would be predators.'

Lloyd stretched, yawned and flipped on his side, his mahogany hair drifting into his face. Kratos watched the small boy sleep peacefully as he curled up on his side, and smiled slightly, his eyes growing warm again. Lloyd seemed so happy, traveling down the road of dreamland. It had been quite a while since he'd seen Lloyd curled into a ball like he was at that moment.

'Still through all of that, you sleep like a boulder.' He shook his head. 'A blatant trait that shows you have much to learn-'

Kratos' thoughts were cut off when Lloyd flipped onto his other side and kicked him in the thigh. Wincing and gingerly rubbing the point of impact, Kratos frowned and eyed the boy suspiciously, waiting for another strike. However, Lloyd simply flipped back and stretched.

When he did so, the long strand that always rebelled against the other pieces of his hair reached down, over his bandage and tickled his nose. Rubbing it in his sleep, Lloyd grunted and tried brushing it out of his face. However, the nefarious strand quickly retook its position on Lloyd's nose.

Gently and careful as to not wake Lloyd, Kratos hesitantly ran his hand through the chestnut tresses of his son's hair, moved the troublesome strand away from his nose and patted his forehead lightly. Instead of jerking awake at Kratos' touch, Lloyd flipped onto his back and began to bay at the moon, his boyish mouth wide open.

Snorting at Lloyd's blatant lack of worries while he slept, Kratos rested all of his weight against the tree, his hand reflexively on his sword. Even though he wasn't going to sleep, Kratos placed his other hand on Lloyd's shoulder and closed his own eyes anyway.

'Sleep well, Lloyd.'

* * *

"No. Absolutely not." Yuan stated firmly, stacking some papers against his desk.

"Why not? I won't be a problem." Colette protested. "I won't make a single sound and I'll be really well behaved. Why can't I stay here?"

"Because, while you are the chosen, you are still a child." Yuan replied. "And this base is no place for children. It would be far too easy for you to find something, trip over a stray wire and blow half of the base to smithereens." Ever since he had found the little stowaway in the filing cabinet drawer of his desk, Yuan had been badgered with requests of staying on the base, none of which he deemed to be wise.

'I don't know why this little girl is so adamant on staying and I have far too much to do to be babysitting.' He snorted to himself. 'Plus, she could destroy anything and probably would if given the chance.'

"So no." He added. "I read the reports on what happened to the Asgard Ranch and I've seen what you all did to the Palmacosta one, so while this is not a desian ranch, any of you could very easily destroy it. I will have my base intact, thank you very much."

"But I don't know how to blow up a base." Colette said, her innocent blue eyes shining with confusion. "That's the Professor. She's really good at blowing things up." Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How comforting." He commented candidly. "But regardless, the answer's still no." Colette thought and then stared at Yuan with the biggest pair of puppy eyes she could muster.

"Please?" She repeated. Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

Colette sighed tiredly, her blonde hair drifting into her face.

"But.. don't you want to make sure that I don't get caught by Cruxis?" She pointed out. "If that happens, Yggdrasill might end up resurrecting Martel and isn't that the one thing the Renegades are trying to prevent?"

The Renegade commander paused and slowly looked up at her.

".. pardon?"

Colette swallowed hard now that she was the center of Yuan's attention. His cold stare was making her nervous and there was only so much a kindergardener could take.

"W-well, uh, if the angels caught me, Yggdrasill could resurrect Martel. Isn't that what you don't want?" She said, her voice wobbling a little. "That's what the Renegades want to prevent at all costs right?" Yuan frowned and closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"That is true... no. Out of the question." Yuan shook his head. "It would just spell disaster."

"But wouldn't it be more of a disaster if Martel was resurrected?"

Yuan closed his eyes in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose. As much as he didn't want to admit it, she did have a point. As she was now, the angels would have no trouble apprehending her. HE certainly didn't have much in the way of doing so, and she hadn't even been his intended target.

'Though, she's far too small to be of an eligible vessel now.' His thoughts pointed out. 'However, Mithos is past the point of waiting patiently. He wants Martel revived as quickly as possible and if something truly walls him off from what he desires, it won't take much for him to completely snap.'

And the news that the chosen had reverted back to the tender age of five might be just the thing to send him spiraling completely off the deep end. If that happened, any chance the Renegades had would have been thrown out the window and his efforts for the past 800 years would have been for nothing.

Keeping her and her youthful condition under wraps for the time being was growing more favorable by the minute. Letting out a pained sigh, Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose and flipped over one of the reports.

'I have little choice. I don't like it, but this is a necessity I cannot ignore, no matter how much I would like to.' He groaned and flipped his ponytail out of his face.

".. Fine." The angelic commander finally relented, his voice tight and terse. "Just don't get in the way." He eyed the five year old scrutinizingly before he went back to his papers. "I am not having a fire break out because you decided it would be a good idea to play with the pretty colored lights in the base's control room." Colette smiled happily, her cheeks rosy, and bounced in delight.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Yuan." She grinned. "And don't worry. You won't even know I'm here." Colette beamed at Yuan once more and made for the door of his office.

"I'll go do something els-" She called back, but tripped over her dress and landed flat on the floor with a thud.

"Ow.. I'm okay." Colette said, dusting herself as she got up, but she quickly became entangled in her dress and fell back down, another bang resonating through the office. Yuan raised an eyebrow and pressed the blue button on the intercom on his desk.

"Sir!"

"Bring the tailor. The chosen is in desperate need of new clothes that actually fit her."

* * *

Dawn broke early over the field and graced the ground with it's shimmering presence. The flowers and grass, glazed by dew, lazily shifted back and forth by the various summer breezes, as if trying to lull themselves back to sleep.

Just like the grass, Lloyd laid flat on his back, perfectly content in his pursuit of dreams. However, not everyone was as content about his lazy morning snoozing. A hand pushed Lloyd's shoulder firmly and the boy grunted, his face scrunched up in annoyance.

".. oyd, wake up... Lloyd, get up."

Opening an eye, Lloyd yawned and peeked up at the angel who had shaken him from dreamland.

".. w-what is it?" He asked sleepily, stifling a yawn. Kratos shifted gracefully from his position on the ground and flicked off a speck of dirt from his sleeve.

"It is morning. You need to wake up." He repeated. Lloyd groaned and sat up, his eyes still full of sleepiness. Rubbing some of it away, the boy yawned and rubbed his forehead, the bandage still firmly in place.

"Oh.. what time is it?" He asked, massaging his arm. Kratos didn't look back, but instead opened the backpack Lloyd had been carrying and pulled out another brown package.

"It's seven." He replied, holding out the package for Lloyd. "Eat that. It will give you energy."

"Seven?" Lloyd gaped, yet took the sandwich from him anyway. "Why so early?" Kratos inspected the fire pit and glanced back at him.

"Meltokio is a few hours walk, so if the departure is earlier, it should save time. Besides, you do not need to sleep the day away." He stated curtly. Lloyd scrunched his nose up at the angel and took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Says the guy who doesn't sleep. That's real fair." He grumbled, his mouth full of sandwich. Kratos eyed him and shook his head in disapproval. Lloyd swallowed and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked, taking another bite out of his peanut butter sandwich.

"Lloyd, don't talk with your mouth full." Kratos replied flatly at Lloyd. Lloyd attempted a dirty look in response to Kratos' commentary, but failed miserably as he had to swallow. Itching his nose with his sleeve, Lloyd finished off his sandwich quickly and stretched, stuffing the wrapper back into his backpack.

"So, Meltokio huh?" He grinned up at the morning sky and sprang up from where he sat. "I haven't been back there in a long time! Plus, I bet someone there'll have seen one of my friends!"

Slinging the backpack over his shoulder, he turned to Kratos, who had just finished his inspection of the rest area.

"So are you coming?" The boy asked, his arms folded against his chest. Kratos glanced over his shoulder at Lloyd and raised an eyebrow. Feeling rather insect like under Kratos' scrutinizing gaze, Lloyd steeled himself and gained his second wind.

"I was, uh, just checking." He replied. "Because if you weren't, I was gonna just head off, but-"

"Do not fret." Kratos cut him off, "I have every intention of going to Meltokio." The angelic swordsman broke his gaze at Lloyd, and shifted it to the sky, taking in the clouds.

"Though, why do you wish to know?" he inquired, his eyes still lingering on the clouds. Turning a slight shade of pink, Lloyd scratched the back of his head and readjusted his scarf.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not like I forgive you or like you or anything, but ..." Lloyd glanced down the path and grimaced. ".. I don't have any weapons right now and that won't help me much against monsters. I'd be lunch in three seconds."

"Ah." Kratos replied lightly as he started down the path that snaked in the direction of the capitol. Lloyd readjusted his backpack and trotted after him, four of his steps for every one of Kratos'.

"Yeah, but why are you going to Meltokio?" The first grader asked curiously. " What do you need to do there?"

"Things." Kratos replied shortly, his hand still resting on the hilt of his sword. Lloyd frowned and angled himself closer to Kratos.

"What kind of things?" The boy pressed, inching his way to finally finding some answers.

Kratos didn't respond.

"People you need to see? Places you need to go?" Lloyd hinted loftily.

Kratos still didn't respond.

"Aw, c'mon! Just a hint?" Lloyd badgered, trotting down the path next to the much taller man. Kratos eyed Lloyd briefly and then shifted his eyes back to the road.

"Patience, Lloyd." He murmured quietly. Lloyd snorted.

"Oh, come on! You oughta know by now that I'm not patient!" The small boy protested. Kratos looked down at Lloyd and sighed tiredly.

"Then work on it." He countered curtly. Lloyd glowered and gripped the edges of his backpack.

'I'll get answers out of you, just you wait!' Lloyd muttered in his mind. 'Like number one: why you saved me, number two: what are you up to, and number three: what the heck are you talking about.'

"Though, it is good to see you bounced back to your actual self." Kratos said softly. "You solemn and glum is rather.. unnatural."

Lloyd stopped walking and stared at the angelic swordsman. Kratos, noting the lack of a second cadence of steps, paused as well and glanced back at Lloyd.

"What is it?" Kratos asked, scanning Lloyd with his eyes for any unseen injuries.

"Were you.. worried about me?" the boy asked, his eyebrow raised. Kratos matched his eyebrow and folded his arms against his chest.

".. perhaps."

Lloyd eyed Kratos harder and craned his neck out like he was trying to see through the angel.

"But.... you're my enemy, why were you concerned?" Lloyd asked, intrigued. Kratos' eyelids closed halfway, he sighed and turned back to the path.

"No reason of consequence." He replied cryptically and resumed his course. Lloyd's shoulders slumped and pure frustration burned in his eyes.

"You don't say anything, and when you do say something, it doesn't make any sense!" Lloyd groaned exasperatedly. "I don't get you at all!"

Kratos caught a glimpse of Lloyd's worn and frustrated face and smirked quietly to himself, his bangs falling into his face.

"And stop laughing at me!" The boy added hotly, his shoulders hunched again. Kratos shook his head and closed his eyes.

"You've still got quite a lot to learn about interrogating people." He commented. "Though, at least this time you weren't in just your underwear, so perhaps you are improving."

"Hey!" Lloyd shouted indignantly. "I'm not a little kid, y'know!"

"Actually, you are." Kratos countered loftily. "Also, when we arrive at Meltokio, your head bandage will need to be rewound and your wound disinfected." Lloyd felt the bandage on his head, winced when he touched the tender wound underneath and grudgingly nodded.

".. oh, alright." the young boy tiredly relented. "But I won't like it."

"No one expected you to." Kratos replied quietly. "Now, if you're done wasting time, let's proceed."

"Yeah, I got it." Lloyd groaned tiredly, shifting some the weight of the backpack on his shoulders. After it was firmly secure, Lloyd picked up the pace of his steps and trailed after Kratos down towards Meltokio.

* * *

"Ugh." Zelos groaned as he pushed the manhole cover off the sewer entrance. "A sewer is no place for such an adorable boy as myself." The boy rubbed his nose, glared down at the wide manhole and snorted. Since the gates were still shut tight in an effort to keep them all out of the city, he had gone back to his old trade route. However, it had taken him much longer by himself and to top it off, he had experienced quite the number of problems because he was so much shorter.

"I can't believe I couldn't reach the stupid ladder. Talk about embarrassing." The redheaded chosen rubbed the back of his head. "Oh well. No point sweating the small stuff." With some effort, Zelos hoisted himself out of the manhole, kicked the pothole back over the pipe and strolled down the cobbled street.

"Okay, while I'd love to see my hunnies, first thing's first. I need to get a new change of clothes." Zelos thought aloud as he walked. "I can't impress my hunnies if I look like I'm swimming in my clothes, now can?"

Glancing at himself, the chosen snorted and held his hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter.

"At least I didn't fall out of my pants like Bud did." he cackled, heading up the huge set of stairs in the direction of his estate.

* * *

A good half hour later, Zelos arrived at the front gate of his estate, his face beaded with sweat. After getting stopped to be mauled by a gaggle of old ladies who cooed over his cuteness, he was mentally exhausted. Not that he'd minded the attention at all, but their canes kept catching his vest underneath them and he had fallen more times that day than he could remember.

"Great, Colette's clumsiness is catching." He groaned aloud and trudged up the steps to the front door. The doors were much larger than he remembered, but he was also a lot dinkier since the last time he had been back, so he figured that was a given. Pushing up the straps of his vest, Zelos clutched his hand into a tight fist and pounded on the door.

"Sebastian!" The second grader called as he rapped on the door with his fist. "Let me in!" The doors to the mansion slowly, but surely lurched open to reveal Zelos' stuffy, yet devoted butler, Sebastian. The older servant gazed out at the steps, and his mustache twitched.

"Down here, dude."

Sebastian blinked, glanced down and his mustache twitched again. It wasn't every day that a filthy seven year old boy graced the chosen's manor and even when it did happen, they were usually wearing clothes that reflected their lack of wealth.

"May I... help you?" He asked, suspiciously eyeing the new occupant of the porch with fervent attention.

"Sebastian man, it's me." Zelos grinned at him. "Happy to see me?"

The old butler blinked in confusion.

"Have we met?" He asked. "Are you a relative of the Chosen? You do look as he did when he was younger, however-"

"Oh, right, the shrimp thing." Zelos cut him off by shifting his shirt out of the way so his gem on his chest was visible in the light. Upon seeing the jewel, Sebastian lightly gasped and his eyebrows raised slightly. For Sebastian, that was quite the show of exuberant surprise.

"The Chosen's Gem!" Sebastian exclaimed as much as a light 'gasp' could exclaim. "Then you must be the Chosen. Master Zelos, what happened to your body?"

"Yeah, it's me." The chosen scratched his ear and yawned. "I dunno what happened, but I got put through the dryer of life and shrank. Go figure why." Ruffling his vest, Zelos peered around his butler into the mansion.

"So, can I come in or what?" He asked impatiently. Sebastian, having regained his composure, bowed to the side and allowed Zelos entry into the manor's anteroom. Beaming to himself, the loudmouth chosen scooped up his curtains of clothes and slickly slid into his home.

"Ah, mansion sweet mansion." Zelos cooed as he strode into the halls of his enormous estate. The anteroom of his mansion was lushly decorated with rich reds and golds, velvet hangings adorning the windows and floors. Grinning broadly to himself, Zelos strolled into the parlor that matched his anteroom, Sebastian at his heels.

Letting out a smug sigh at being home, the tiny chosen flopped down on the crimson velvet chaise next to the fireplace, his oversized vest puddling about his sides.

"Have I missed anything while I was gone? Any papal people presenting themselves to prostrate my personage as a prisoner?" He asked Sebastian, who had taken his proper place next to the bookcase.

"No sir." He replied promptly. "None of the Pope's knights have happened upon the mansion, not for the longest while." Zelos sighed happily and folded his arms behind his head.

"Wonderful. Then I can finally kick back and relax." He said blissfully. His butler nodded to Zelos' contentedness.

"Though, sir, you did have a visitor during your absence." Sebastian added, "A young miss came to the mansion and asked to see you. Unfortunately, you were away on business, so she left."

Zelos' head shot up like a dog who heard the phrase 'bacon' and his eyebrows reached the roof.

"A lady friend? For the amazing chosen himself?" He asked, his eyes shining. "Do tell. Who was it? Was she one of my many hunnies?"

"She did not say her name, sir." His butler replied. "However, she did leave you a letter entailing her message." Reaching into his coat pocket, Sebastian pulled a letter and held it out for the tiny chosen, who occupied the miniature couch. Zelos glanced up at the letter and yawned.

"Sebastian, could ya read it for me? I'm kinda too tired right now." The chosen flopped about the couch, his limbs splayed like an octopus who'd been filled with jelly. The butler bowed in response, flipped open the letter and straightened out the paper.

"Ahem.."

"Dear Zelos, you stupid Chosen,"

"When you get this letter, you'd better listen up. I know you're spending time probably pulling something nasty with your age as a cover, but we've got more important things than your libido to be worrying about."

"I'm guessing you're still a kid, since I am too. So, once you get this, head straight to the Elemental Research Laboratory. I'll try talking to them first to see if they can figure out what the heck happened to us."

"I haven't found anyone else yet, so if you have, bring them too. Hurry up and get here soon. And for the love of Martel, don't you try and do anything funny to any of those hussies you hang around with. Just think with something other than your pants for once and get down here quick."

"Sheena."

Sebastian then folded up the letter and put it on the small end table next to the couch. Zelos stared long and hard at his butler, arched a crimson eyebrow and groaned tiredly.

"I'll go see the 'Ironing Board formerly known as Jubblies' in an hour or three. Naps are more important right now." Zelos pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back onto the cushions of the couch more. "I've got a nasty case of jet lag."

"While I snooze, would you get me some new clothes that would fit me, Sebastian? These ones, while gorgeous, are hindering me way too much." Sebastian bowed in respect, his hand on his waistcoat.

"Yes sir." He replied.

"Oh, and Sebastian?" Zelos peeked an eye open.

"Don't read my letters from my hunnies aloud ever again, mmkay?"

"Yes sir."

* * *

However, at the Imperial Research Institute, which sat in the crossroads between the pleasant side of Meltokio and the not so pleasant, there was someone who was not nearly as relaxed as Zelos. In fact, tense impatience radiated from inside the building. The source of said radiation was that of a cranky six year old girl who was perched on top of a filing cabinet in the corner of the entry.

"Stinking Chosen." Sheena grumbled as she sat on top of a filing cabinet next to the receptionist's desk, staring pointedly at the door. "How long is gonna be before he shows up?"

"I don't know, dear." The half elven receptionist at the desk replied as she wrote down the dates of when various chemical shipments were expected to arrive. Sheena's shoulders slumped and she let out a tired sigh. She'd had quite the set of days. When she had returned to Mizuho, the hidden village of ninjas, she'd tried to contact the others via the Mizuho Information Network, but had come up with a grand total of zilch.

'Nothing, not even one person... they'd better be okay.' She glowered. 'Nah, I'm sure they're alright. Everyone's far too stubborn to kick it just like that.' Sheena smiled to herself and dusted off one of her muted red sleeves with a flick of her wrist.

Her purple shirt and pink ribbon long gone, Sheena sported a plush crimson ninja outfit that fit her like a glove. Since she no longer was having issues keeping her shirt closed due to cleavage, the long sleeved red ninja top wrapped around her snugly and was fixed into place by a light brown obi, which was consequently tied off with a pink ribbon. Her loose pants matched the hue of her top and were tucked into a pair of well loved brown boots, while the sleeves of her jacket were attached to black mesh that ran along the lower stretch of her forearms. At the end of the mesh, Sheena had donned red fingerless leather gloves with brown cuffs, each with a short band of brown leather on the backs of the hands. A yellow bandana around her neck completed her new outfit, and a short sword hung precariously off her back, tied on via a thick bandoleer of tanned leather.

Swinging her puffy crimson pantlegs back and forth against the filing cabinets drawers, Sheena flopped her chin on her hand and groaned out of boredom. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, Sheena craned her neck over the receptionist's head, trying to get a view of the documents that laid out on the mahogany desk.

"Still nothing on the results of my tests?" She asked, hoping that the results would give her something new to go on.

"Yes dear." The receptionist replied. Sheena sighed and leaned against the wall, her back slouched and limp. She was bored out of her mind, and that pesky chosen was taking his sweet time getting his rear in gear.

"It's been over two days, and I'm starting to get annoyed." She added. "What's taking hims so long? It's not like he can't take care of himself. He's too irritating to bite the bullet that easily, no matter if he's a shrimp or not."

"If he's not here in three hours, I'll go take another look at his manor, just in case." Sheena glared at the wall and punched her fist into her other hand.

"I swear, if he's just napping in his mansion right now, I'll make sure personally he never goes into puberty again!"

"That's nice, dear."

* * *

**There we go. Chapter 8 done.**

**Sheena: I finally appear!**

**Zelos: Yeah, but your chest is still missing in action.**

**Sheena: You stupid chosen! *picks up chair and proceeds to beat him with it***

**Zelos: Aaah, not the face!**

**Me: Uh.. yeah. Please review**!


	9. Regrets and Reunions

**Author's Note: Hello all! What is this? Three chapters in one week?! I know, I can't believe it either. Well, here it is, nonetheless. So please enjoy! Also, thanks is sent to all of you who alerted, favorited, and a humongous set of thank yous to silent romantic, AbyssalDaemon, ThePurpleRose, Stephy825, Destiny's Light, Bubble-Headed Brunette and Kiomori for reviewing! You guys are all fantastic!**

**Onward ho with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, all of the Z-skits would have full voice acting, instead of just text. I'd love to hear them all cringe over the Professor's cooking. T'would be hilarious.**

Chapter Nine: Regrets and Reunions

"There it is!" Lloyd called out as he stood on top of a large hill. The crisp morning air ruffled his hair back and forth in the breeze while sprinkles of dew kissed his cheeks so they looked fresh and healthy. As he perched on top of the hill, the white scarf he had draped about his neck fluttered gently against the summer's breeze, every so often flopping on his stiff, brown, cloth pack that hung off the boy's shoulders. Grinning excitedly to himself, Lloyd wheeled around and grinned at the man who was following him a few steps behind.

"I can see Meltokio from here!" He pointed to the tip of the cathedral that stretched above the rest of the city. "Can you see it?"

Kratos nodded stoically as he too reached the top of the hill. His hand still precariously resting on the hilt of his sword, he glanced at the cathedral for a moment before his eyes scanned the area for potential lurking monsters.

"Yes, I can see it, Lloyd." He replied, eyeing a particularly suspicious bush. Peering over at Kratos, Lloyd saw that the angelic swordsman wasn't paying attention and frowned.

"Oh, c'mon you're not even looking." He complained tiredly. Kratos closed his eyes and sighed.

'I did look and it's the same it has been in 4000 years.' He thought flatly to himself. 'Why would I want to spend more time looking at it-'

"Please look?"

Kratos thoughts were interrupted as a pair of very determined, very large eyes stared at his own, tapered eyebrows creased against them with all the boy could muster. Watching the boy back, Kratos arched an eyebrow at Lloyd.

"Pardon?" The angel inquired. Lloyd eyed Kratos for a moment or two and inhaled deeply.

"Just thought if I asked nicely, maybe you'd do it." He shrugged. Kratos observed the boy in front of him carefully and turned his attention to the cathedral.

"I see you do possess manners after all." The angel commented. "I suppose it would be best not to deny you if that would deter your politeness." Lloyd glowered at Kratos and sighed as another breeze blew through the air, ruffling his hair.

A bout of silence sank into the air, while a few birds chirping in the distance did break it slightly. Discreetly taking his eyes away from the steeple of the church, Kratos glanced down at Lloyd's spiky brown head and quickly returned his gaze to the towering city.

"What do you plan to do once you reach Meltokio?" He asked offhandedly, his gaze resting on the city's outer walls. Blinking in surprise that it had been Kratos who destroyed the tranquility instead of himself, Lloyd stared at the older man before he regained his sense of self and scratched his cheek.

"Uh.. well, I'm gonna look for my friends." He stated matter-of-factly, his arms folded against his slender chest, "There's a chance that they could have come here by now and I want to find them."

"I see." Kratos replied simply. His hand brushed against the hilt of his sword lightly as he eyed another suspicious thicket that laid on the side of the road. The thicket squeaked in surprise, rustled violently and a small monster bellied out of it, scuttling in the opposite direction as fast as its stubby legs could carry it. Rolling his eyes at the scurrying monster, Kratos gripped the hilt of his sword firmly and looked at Lloyd once more.

"Let's hurry on." He stated sharply to the boy and resumed his swift strides down the worn and well loved highway to Meltokio. Lloyd jumped at his tone, but quickly regained his sense of self and hurried after the older man.

"Yeah.... hold on, how come you get to know what I'm going to do and I don't get to know about what you're doing?!" Lloyd interjected as he trotted after Kratos. Glancing down at the boy slightly, Kratos shook his head and returned his gaze to the road.

"You were the one who decided to share the information. No one forced you to divulge it." He replied loftily, a spike of his auburn hair drifting over his eye like a veil. "Perhaps you should work on your discretion." Frowning, Lloyd's nose scrunched up in a glare and he tightly crossed his arms against his chest.

"That's not very fair."

"Life's not fair, Lloyd."

Silence overtook the crisp air once more, until Lloyd came to a halt, his stiff brown shoes planted in the dirt path. Noticing the sudden stop of his son, Kratos glanced over his shoulder to see that Lloyd was fervently itching his forehead underneath his bandage.

"Lloyd, what are you doing?" He inquired, his eyebrow raised. Lloyd looked up at Kratos, gave him a dead look and went back to itching his forehead.

"What do you think I'm doing?" The boy asked tersely, digging at his forehead for all he was worth. "I'm scratching my forehead. It's itching me like crazy." Kratos scanned Lloyd's forehead and his eyes narrowed.

'He'll scratch himself raw if he's not careful.' He told himself as he observed the red rash that was cropping up on Lloyd's skin. 'And knowing Lloyd, he won't think about the consequences of what he's doing until it's bleeding.'

Stepping forward, the angel knelt on one knee and brushed Lloyd's hands away from his head. The boy froze, blinking in astonishment, brought his hands up again to itch it again, but they were once again batted away from his face.

"I was going to do this once we reached Meltokio, but it seems I have little choice." Kratos murmured as he untucked the edge of the bandage and unraveled it down and around his left hand. "It seems your wound is becoming irksome to you." He glanced down at Lloyd and his eyes narrowed at the boy.

"Don't move." He told the boy rigidly as he pulled off the last piece of the bandage so Lloyd's wound was exposed to the air. "And stop scratching it. You will only make it worse." The miniature boy glowered at being chastised, but sighed pointedly and eyed Kratos, his cherrywood eyes locked on the angel's face. Kratos let the old bandage fall to the ground, and then planted both of his palms firmly on Lloyd's temples, which made the six year old jolt in surprise.

"What are you doing?!" Lloyd asked incredulously as he watched Kratos who was about three inches from his forehead.

"Examining your wound." Kratos replied, as he ran his thumb over the swollen and red abrasion. Lloyd flinched in pain and tried to pull away, but Kratos' grip was far too solid.

"Leggo, that hurts!" The boy complained, but Kratos held fast, noting the crusting rim around the wound and puffy skin that surrounded the perimeter. He ignored the boy's protests at being released and hissed silently when a fresh trail of blood seeped out of the healing wound and ran down Lloyd's face.

'While the wound is healing, my techniques won't be enough to speed up the process completely.' He growled internally. 'I will have to use some conventional methods in order to solve this.'

One hand still stably holding Lloyd, he reached into his pocket, pulled out what looked like a bottle of green slime and flipped open the lid with a flick of his thumb.

"Hey, leggo of my head!" Lloyd squalled, trying to break out of Kratos' grip. Turning his eyes on the boy, Kratos cast Lloyd a death glare, which silenced him almost immediately.

"No." He said curtly. "And if you don't want me to put this medicine in your eyes, you'll hold still." Lloyd ogled at Kratos, peered down at the medicine that he held and glanced back up at the man, the expression on his face telling the world that he wouldn't put it past Kratos to put it in his eyes to teach him a lesson.

Kratos raised an eyebrow at the first grader in his grasp and nodded once approvingly when Lloyd ceased his caterwauling and stood stock still.

"Good." He commented coolly. "I see we understand each other then." Lloyd didn't answer, his gaze still fixed on the bottle to make sure that it didn't pull anything funny. Sighing to himself, Kratos pulled off one of his gloves, poured some of the thick green gel into his palm and dabbed the pads of his thumb, index and middle finger into the goo.

"This will sting at first, but it will ease the pain and cool the itching." He explained as he lightly brushed the gel onto Lloyd's wound.

"Okay..." Lloyd nodded, still standing stock still with his eyes clenched shut. Kratos' eyebrow arched at Lloyd's display, but he shook it off and continued to dress the wound with the goo.

'He doesn't actually think I would put it in his eyes.. does he?' Kratos asked himself as he smeared the green gel over Lloyd's forehead. Once the wound was thickly coated with the lime substance, Kratos capped the bottle and returned it to his pocket. He then unhooked the flap of Lloyd's backpack, reached inside and pulled out a fresh roll of bandages that he had received from the nun before he had left.

Placing a finger underneath the beginning strip of cloth, Kratos unraveled the long wrap with a swift hand and encircled it around Lloyd's forehead, all the while making sure that he wasn't cutting off circulation and air to the boy's abrasion.

'That would only make it worse.' He muttered to himself as he worked steadily. 'Though, it is quite amazing that he managed to heal this quickly with only some basic healing and common first aid practices.'

"Hey.. Kratos?"

Kratos glanced down slightly from Lloyd's forehead to see that Lloyd's reddish brown eyes had opened and were staring back at his own with fervent attention.

"What is it?" He asked, tucking the edge of the cloth into the other rolls so it stood in place.

"You wouldn't... really put that stuff in my eyes, would you?" The small boy asked as he eyed the older angel finish up fixing the bandage. Kratos sighed and smirked.

"I would do so if you were flailing around and my hand slipped." He replied, wiping off the gel from his hands on a stray piece of cloth. "So that is up to you, I suppose." Brusquely eyeing his handiwork, Kratos stood back up and, regloved his hand, returning it to the hilt of his sword.

"But not intentionally, no." The faux mercenary surveyed the path and then back at the boy who was still poking his numb forehead with an index finger.

"Let's move on." He stated stoically and trekked down the path, his cape billowing behind him.

Lloyd watched Kratos, his face perplexed, patted the bandage with the palm of his hand and gaped when he registered that Kratos was about thirty yards down the highway ahead of him.

"Hey, wait for me!" Lloyd called and chased after the angelic swordsman, his leather shoes kicking up dust behind him.

* * *

"How long does it take one tailor to measure one little girl?" Yuan asked himself aloud as he leaned against the wall outside his office. His arms folded against his chest, the Renegade leader sighed tiredly and stared at the metal dome that ran overhead as the roof of the hallway.

When the tailor finally arrived, Colette had jumped at the opportunity of new clothes, as her old ones were so gigantic, they had the appearance that she had attacked a set of curtains and the curtains had won. The tailor had been equally giddy at the idea of creating a set of new clothes for the little chosen, since the only thing she had made for over 300 years had been replicas of desian uniforms. After a while, that pattern and style grew very old, very fast. As a result, she had practically done a cartwheel when she saw the little girl with whom she could play dress up.

Snorting impatiently, Yuan glanced out of the corner of his eye and fleetingly gazed upon the door of his office. The clean lines of the door stared back at him and mocked him for his new place in the hallway and how he was not in his plush office chair. The blue haired angel's eyes narrowed dangerously at the door and he tore them away so they eyed the ceiling instead.

"And why, may I ask, was I ejected from my own office?!" He demanded to the empty hallway, though he did not expect an answer. The blue haired half elf then shut his eyes in frustration, the events from two hours ago replaying back in his mind and cackling raucously at him while they rewinded again and again.

"_First thing's first." The tailor nodded as she rolled up her sleeves and took out some ticked tape. "We need to take some measurements." Colette fidgeted with the sleeve of her huge tent of a dress and bit her lip as she eyed the Renegade leader, who was sitting at his desk in his swivel chair, nose deep in documents. The tailor looked perplexed at first, but when Colette pointed to Yuan, she caught on and nodded in sympathy._

"_Sir, we have a problem." She saluted, her ticked measuring tape draped back over her shoulders like a hunting anaconda. Sighing, Yuan glanced up from his papers and raised an eyebrow._

"_What is it?" He asked as he stood up with a stack of the papers in hand. The tailor then gently nudged Colette's shoulder with her hand, gesturing for her to step forward._

"_Um... Mr. Yuan?" Colette's tiny voice wavered as she held up the hem of her gigantic dress. "I... need some privacy." The Renegade commander shut the door to his large filing cabinet, glanced over his shoulder at her and watched her carefully, before he understood what she had meant._

"_I see." Yuan nodded curtly and turned around so he was no longer observing her, but instead perused his bookcase. The tailor and Colette looked at each other, then back at their blue haired friend and the tailor sighed exasperatedly, her left gloved hand pinching the bridge of her nose._

"_Sir, we need COMPLETE privacy." She restated, her hand on her hip. "As in, a male free atmosphere." Yuan peered over at her, frowning as he did, and arched a turquoise eyebrow._

"_What do you suggest?" He asked flatly. "That I leave my office so you can turn it into a beauty parlor?" Silence filled the room like congealed cream stew as both females stared pointedly at Yuan. Yuan blinked._

"_... you can't be serious."_

"_Yes, sir, we are. A girl needs her privacy." The tailor nodded seriously as she began to herd the Renegade commander towards the door, who in turn was dragging his heels every step of the way._

"_But this is MY office-"_

"_It was your idea, sir." The tailor replied jovially, nudging him out the door. "We'll let you back in when we're done." With that, the door shut with a loud thud and the titanium locking mechanism latched, successfully barring Yuan from any way of getting back his office._

So there he stood in the hallway, officeless, banished and thoroughly agitated.

"I cannot believe I was just banished from my own office by a tailor." He glowered at the paneled floor. "This is infuriating. It was not as if I was going to look or do anything suspect." As he suffered in silence very loudly, the door to his office clicked open and the tailor popped her head out of the door frame, beaming jubilantly.

"I'm done!" She called, strolling out into the hallway, the door shutting behind her. "I'm giving her a minute to change."

"What a silly little thing, though. She wouldn't take off her undershirt or tights when I did the measurements, even though they were five sizes too big." The half elf tailor cooed. "She said she'd get too cold." Glowing at the door, the tailor beamed again and sighed.

"Ooh, she's just too cute!" The tailor continued, her voice laced with bliss. "She was so much fun to make clothes for. I made her four new outfits and a pair of pajamas and oh, I just can't wait to see her in them. Too cute for words, that's what she is, just too cute for words-"

'I can think of a few words..' Yuan muttered bitterly in his mind, but didn't let his thoughts grace his face.

"So, if you're done cooing at my office door, perhaps I can now reclaim my personal work area?"

"Hm?" The tailor broke out of her stupor and blinked. "Oh, yes, yes, you should be able to go in now."

'.. how generous of you.' The angel commander bitterly spat in his mind. 'Never mind I was the one who occupied it first.' Instead of voicing his many evil thoughts he had swimming in his mind, Yuan brushed past her and paused at the door frame.

'I suppose it would be polite to knock.' He mused. 'Though, the many times those people decided to raid my base, they never did.' Bringing up a hand, Yuan knocked swiftly on the door twice.

'I won't, however, stoop to their level.' He replied to himself. The door made no response to his knock, so he figured it was safe to enter without a high pitched shriek killing his eardrums. Yuan pressed the button on the side of the door which made the large panel retract into the wall. Nodding at it, the angelic commander strode into his office and inspected it.

The damage was considerably less than he had expected. There were some scraps of cloth on the floor, along with an ancient looking sewing machine on his desk, but all in all, it could have been much worse. Yuan let out a breathe of relief that he didn't have a crater where his office used to be, but his attention was snagged by a little sigh from the corner of the room. Pivoting, Yuan saw the small angelic chosen, who was laying on his office's plush bench, fast asleep.

In place of the huge balloon of a dress, Colette now sported a crisp white sun dress that hung down to her lower thigh, and was decorated with two robin's egg blue ribbons that trailed around the edge of the dress in parallel lines, as to hide the hem from view. The dress had puckered peasant sleeves that came in at her shoulders, but then flared out in a bell fashion to her wrists so it looked like her arms had been engulfed in a funnel. All along the edge of the sleeve, the same blue ribbon had been laced in and out, tying off at a bow at the very end. Her collar swooped down in a boat neck fashion, and ribbons also adorned in and out of the fabric, tying off with a loose bow at the base. To add to the outfit, Colette had also tied navy blue ribbons in her hair so they rested against her blonde locks of hair.

All in all, she did look absolutely adorable.

However, while Yuan did momentarily notice her new outfit, he was too preoccupied with the large bunch of thick, stiff cloth that Colette clung to with unconscious, yet fervent focus.

"What pray tell is that?" The Renegade commander inquired, pointing to the sheet like fabric that Colette was hugging in her sleep. "And where did she get it?"

"Oh, I just fond that spare cape lying around in my pile of mended clothes that I hadn't passed out to people yet, so I let her use it." The tailor replied as she packed up the rest of her supplies and headed for the door. "She seemed so fond of it, I told her she could have it." Yuan raised an eyebrow and leaned down, prodding the cape with his finger.

"... Isn't that my traveling cape?" Yuan asked as he poked the thick wool material of the cape. Sure enough, it was his thickest traveling cape that she had chosen to squish while she slept.

"Huh.. well would you look at that?" The tailor commented, obviously surprised. "Well, there's your cape, sir. Freshly mended, though it's now occupied by a little girl who seems to like it quite a bit." The tailor then saluted her irritated commander and exited out the door. Watching the door with narrowed eyes, Yuan shot it a death glare that would have peeled the paint if he had used it for long.

He sighed, not wanting to peel his paint, and ran a hand through the aqua ponytail that fell about his shoulders. He then turned his gaze back to Colette, who still curled up on the couch, her blonde hair trailing down her face.

'At least... I have my traveling cape mended now.' He told himself as he watched Colette's tiny hands curl around the edge of the cape and dig her fingers into the folds of the fabric.

Staring down at the little girl who snoozed peacefully on his sofa, his traveling cape latched in her grip, the Angel of Reason sighed tiredly and returned to his desk, flopping unceremoniously into his chair.

'This is going to be a habit. I can tell.'

* * *

Once the pair reached the gates of Meltokio, Lloyd's enthusiasm had curbed completely and he looked exhausted. Walking so much in one session was one thing, but bouncing up and down while doing so took it out of him more than he would have admitted. That's what Kratos believed to be so, anyway.

"When did the road to Meltokio get so long... and why am I so tired?" The boy asked aloud, his limbs limp at his sides.

"That is what happens when you decide to bounce instead of conserving your energy like a sensible person." Kratos replied curtly as they both adjourned into the main cobbled street of Meltokio. Lloyd glared at Kratos and folded his arms.

".. stick in the mud. " He replied, tearing his eyes away from the older angel to stare into the gargantuan city that stretched in front of him. Instantly, his lethargic vanished and was replaced by one of enthusiasm.

"Wow, look at the size of this place!" The tiny boy exclaimed as he ran into the ground level of the city and spun around, taking all of the sights in. "This is so much bigger than last time!"

'That was because YOU were so much larger last time.' Kratos thought flatly, but kept his comments to himself. Lloyd was obviously enjoying himself and he didn't feel it right to ruin his moment. The little boy wheeled around and pointed to the first set of stairs that stretched up into the middle level of Meltokio.

"Race ya!" He called. Kratos regarded Lloyd with a deadpan look, his eyebrow caulked.

"I don't race, Lloyd." He stated, but it was too late. Lloyd had already plowed up the stairs, laughing as he did so. Kratos sighed and shook his head tiredly.

'When he's excited, there's no getting to that boy.' He told himself and began his dignified ascent of the stairwell.

Once he reached the middle platform that housed several botanical plots, Kratos saw that Lloyd was standing next to the second set of stairs, both of his hands resting behind his head and his left knee brought up against the wall.

'Was he.. waiting for me?' the angelic swordsman asked himself. Upon his arrival, Lloyd's head snapped over to Kratos and he grinned triumphantly.

"I won." He nodded smilingly to himself, if anyone else. "Want to go again?" Kratos groaned softly and eyed the boy with another flat look.

"Lloyd, there was no racing involved, as I did not race you." He pointed out calmly. "So no." Instead of pouting like Kratos had expected, Lloyd grinned wryly up at him.

"You're just worried I'll win again." The former teenager responded, his eyebrow raised to match his older counterpart's. Kratos, who was feeling slightly irked by Lloyd's lack of listening, closed his eyes and sighed.

"Lloyd, that is not what I meant-"

"Still gonna win!" Lloyd interrupted, now halfway up the second flight of stairs. Kratos watched in exasperation at his son's display and shook his head.

'No getting to him, indeed.' With his hand on the hilt of his word, Kratos quickly walked up the steps to where the first class resided, his patience beginning to run thin.

"See, told ya I'd win." Lloyd grinned at Kratos as he sat on the side of the walk near the top of the stairs, his scrawny, boyish legs dangling over the side. Kratos sighed and mentally fought the urge to groan and pinch his nose in exasperation. Once he controlled it, Kratos strode over to where the boy sat and observed the area around him, taking in all of the people who passed through, the birds that chirped merrily in the air, and the direction in which the wind blew. Meanwhile, the boy swayed from side to side in his seat on the walk and his eyes trailed up until they rested on Kratos' face.

"So... where are you going now?" Lloyd asked out of the blue as he continued to swing his legs back and forth. Kratos sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Lloyd was not going to let it go no matter what, so he had no choice by to throw the boy a bone, albeit a small one.

".. I have business with the church." He replied concisely. It was true enough to not be a complete lie. He DID have business in the church, just.. not business that Yggdrasill had with the church. That was true enough to slide by unscathed.. he hoped.

"... oh, okay." Lloyd blinked, looking a bit astounded at having received an answer at all, let alone that one. "..... I suppose you would, since you're pretty high up in Cruxis and all. Yggdrasill must send you on a bunch of that kinda thing."

".. Mm." The older man nodded in agreement and glanced down at the boy who sat next to his side. The miniature version of Lloyd looked back up at Kratos, his cherrywood irises set on his own, and stood back up, stretching as he did so.

"I've got to go to see if Zelos is home yet." Lloyd yawned into his scarf and stretched again. "I bet he's gotten back by now."

"Then this is where we part ways." Kratos stated stiffly, his hand ever resting on the hilt of his sword.

"Yeah, I guess so." Lloyd nodded in agreement. After he readjusted his scarf, Lloyd stood up straight and locked eyes with Kratos.

"So, I'll be going then." He said firmly, his spiked hair fluffed by a stray breeze. "See you later, I guess." Lloyd then pivoted on his little brown shoes and took off towards the aristocrat's quarter, spiky chestnut hair swishing in the wind.

Kratos nodded curtly at the boy's fading back and turned in the opposite direction. He was going to go without a word, continue on doing what he needed to do and collect the sacred wood he required. Then he could go back to assisting Lloyd from the sidelines....

..where he belonged.

"Hey, Kratos!"

Shaken from his train of thought, Kratos paused and turned his gaze over his shoulder to see that Lloyd had stopped his sprint and was waving at him, a huge and sparkling grin blazoned on his face.

"Thanks for everything you did!" The boy called. "I owe you one!" With that, Lloyd wheeled around and dashed towards the aristocrat's quarters, the tails of his scarf flipping in the air behind him.

Kratos observed the boy run in the opposite direction, his mind completely blank of words. His wordless exit had been ruined by the grateful smile of his jubilant son, who had just truly smiled at him for the first time since after the Tower of Salvation. It hadn't been a little smile, either. Lloyd had given a elated and joyful smile that lit up the boy's whole face with warmth and light.. and that smile had been directed at him no less.

A tiny part of him, a deeply buried, deep seeded part wanted to chase after the boy, to tell him not to run so fast in a crowd, to tell him his friends would still be there later if he was patient, if they were even there at all, and that he should eat something first. However, the angelic swordsman didn't move, transfixed on his position in the side of the upper courtyard. He didn't move, or even blink. All he did was stand there, his eyes fixated on Lloyd's retreating back and his left hand on the hilt of his sword. That was all he would let himself do.

'.... No, that time has passed. I cannot chase what used to be.' Kratos emptily watched the fading visage of Lloyd sprinting off towards the aristocrat's quarter and turned on his heel. He had matters he had to attend to, items he could no longer delay. Besides, there was nothing more to watch, anyway. Lloyd had long since disappeared from view, only his shadow haunting the memory of his eyes.

His swallowtail cape fluttering behind him, the angel swiftly headed for the enormous cathedral that laid next to the castle gates, his eyes cool, calculating and emotionless.

'I cannot pursue what I forfeited long ago ... no matter if I want to.'

* * *

"Huh... not bad, Sebastian, not bad." Zelos approvingly inspected himself in the mirror. Having just taken a bath and received his new clothes, the short chosen preened himself in front of the mirror and flashed himself a wondrous grin.

"If I'd known you'd have found this, I would have come back a lot sooner." He laughed, readjusting his coat. His new coat much resembled that of a trench coat, but it stopped just short of his calves and had black belts tied around the cuffs. The same shade of pink as his vest, the coat's buttons were shiny and black, as were the piped trim that ran along the outside edge of the coat.

Underneath his coat, Zelos sported a simple black v-neck sleeveless shirt, which he had tucked into his white capri pants. A white belt held his pants up and clipped together with a gold buckle, which shone in the mirror and glinted off the glass.

Zelos had left the coat open, tying it back into place with the matching belt straps that had come with the coat so it looked very much like a smaller version of his vest. Once it had properly been adjusted to his taste, the narcissistic chosen then felt his shoes, which were basically miniature copies of his original pair, and flipped his new white headband out of his eyes. After he'd preened the proper amount as he deemed fit, Zelos winked and struck a pose in the mirror.

"Show time." Zelos smirked in the mirror, and glanced up at Sebastian, who hadn't left his side the entire time. Sighing at his butler, Zelos stretched, wandered over to the side tablet that sat next to the chaise and tucked the brand new sword that sat upon it safely into his belt.

"Hey, anybody shows up, tell them I'm out." He called back to his butler, pulling a small white pouch off the side table and stuffed it into his jacket. "Unless it's papal knights. Then tell them I'm stuck up a tree on the other side of the world or something."

"Yes sir." Sebastian replied. Waving lazily behind him, Zelos strode to the door, pulled it open and meandered out the manor.

* * *

Lloyd trotted down the cobbled steps of the aristocrat's quarters quickly, each step pounding on the ornate road below him. He had never been fond for the aristocrats or their lifestyles much the first time he had visited Zelos' house, and that hadn't changed when he shrank. Lloyd had always been a fond believer in the basic necessities when it came to decorating and found that usually less was more. However, the rich and noble occupants disagreed with him, as they believed more was more and too much wasn't enough. It certainly showed amongst the passersby in the rich district, as they all sported lacy collars and cuffs, velvet, silk and fur clothes, rich and detailed shoes and more money than brains. Grimacing to himself, the small boy took in several of the fashions and shuddered at the thought of having to wear them.

'That would definitely itch.' He commented as an older man who wore a lace outfit strode past, his hand on a jewel encrusted cane. 'It's like someone dumped Colette's eyelet bedspread on him.' Looking thoroughly disgusted, Lloyd continued down the street, his eyes watching the carriages that passed him by.

'Man, do they really need all this stuff?' Lloyd asked himself as he passed a particularly gaudy coach, frilly ribbons and lace trim stitched delicately along the outside. 'It seems a bit much to me.' Turning his head back to the road, Lloyd saw several groups of middle aged rich women skitter in his direction. Albeit different shades and dyes, all of the women looked exactly the same, similar hairstyles which resembled oddly colored beehives that stretched high into the air, and a uniform pattern of dresses, each of which had more lace than Lloyd thought should have existed. They even had round deep red circles of rouge painted on their cheeks, which clashed violently with the vibrant eye shadow and lipstick that adorned their faces.

Lloyd didn't want to stare, because he knew staring was rude, but he couldn't look away. Something that bizarre deserved at least one good gawk.

'It's like they were attacked with a stamp set.' He blinked in horror as he watched them descend upon the street in droves. As more of them flooded out onto the walk, Lloyd noticed the space on the street that was ruffle free was growing slimmer by the second and the chances of him avoiding the satin barrage had disappeared from his view.

'Man... now they grew.' He groaned, 'Guess there's no way around it... I'm gonna have to rush them.' Kicking up some dust, the first grader dashed forward and squeezed into the lurid barrier of satin, lace and polyester.

Trying not to gain any attention, Lloyd darted carefully in and out of the crowds of the painted up women, each with pearls and gems strewn about their bodies and parasols of sheer fabric adorning their arms. No matter which way he dodged, nasal voices of spoiled women flooded his senses, all of them were all gossiping about the latest news of fashion, new tips on snagging young men and what the neighbors down the lane had done last week. Since Lloyd's hearing was usually excellent, though selective when it came to the professor's lessons, he groaned in pain as he ran through the crowds, desperately trying to find the exit from the gaggle of laughing vultures. Finally making it out of the cluster, Lloyd picked up the pace and sprinted as fast as he could away from the wall of full skirts.

'Ugh, that was disgusting.' the boy made a revolted face as he ran away from the pack of older hyenas. 'They're trying to snag guys my real age for themselves and if I hear 'scandalous' one more time, I'm gonna hurl-'

"Bud!"

Lloyd stopped cold and craned his head around. He could have sworn he heard something, but he didn't see anyone who would have known who he was. Frowning, Lloyd folded his arms and eyed the cobblestones underneath his feet, deep in thought.

'There's nobody here.' He thought tensely, eyeing some of the lanky men who were gossiping about the latest ruffle trends, 'But I could have sworn I heard-'

"BUD!"

Looking up, Lloyd saw a blur of red and pink zooming towards him and launched itself into the air, coming right for him. Taking a step back in shock, Lloyd froze where he stood and the thing collided with his chest, knocking the wind and the balance out of him. Reeling back, Lloyd landed heavily on the road, his tailbone squealing in pain. However, he quickly forgot about his sore coccyx when a pink clad arm wrapped itself around his neck and pulled him into a fierce hug.

"Wh-wha?" the six year old boy gaped dumbfounded at the stealth hugging session he was being subjected to in the middle of the street. Looking upward, he caught the view of a seven year old boy with a shock of long red hair who mauled him with a bear hug around the neck.

"Bud, it's you and you're not a pancake!" Zelos cooed happily, rubbing his fist into Lloyd's hair and beaming. Lloyd, with both of his hands on Zelos' arm, tried to dislodge himself from the Chosen's grip, though he wasn't successful.

"Zelos?!" He asked, though he was pretty sure it was him. No one else launched themselves at him at all, let alone like that.

"Oh, Bud, I'm so happy to see you!" The chosen beamed, flipping a spike of Lloyd's hair back and forth. "I was so worried about you." Finally breaking his grip, Lloyd stepped back and blinked.

"You were worried about me?" He asked. Zelos laughed and clapped a hand on Lloyd's back.

"Nah, I knew you were too stubborn to just throw in the towel like that." He laughed. Lloyd snorted and shook his head.

"Yeah, how could I ever think you'd actually worry about anyone who you didn't see in a mirror?" He quipped back, his face in a wry grin. Sniffing, Zelos pretended to look hurt and clutched his coat.

"Ow, Bud, that one was harsh." He sighed. "But, that goes to show you're still the hotheaded Bud we all know and tolerate." Rolling his eyes, Lloyd snorted again.

"Yeah, yeah. Live it up." The six year old boy replied. "But seriously, I can't believe I'm saying this, but boy am I glad to see you. I haven't seen anyone else yet, so seeing you is actually good for once." Zelos gasped, put his hand to his chest and let out a fake sob.

"Ouch, man, ouch. Y'know, there's only so much I can take before it really strikes home." He feigned a tear and grinned. "Still, good timing, man."

"Good timing?" Lloyd asked, his tapered eyebrow caulked upward. "For what?" Zelos grinned and hooked a thumb towards the stairs that led to the lower quarters.

"I got a message from the Elemental Research Laboratory to get there quick." He replied. "They're gonna try and see what the hell's wrong with all of us and the more the merrier with test samples."

"Huh.. not bad, Zelos." Lloyd nodded approvingly. "That way we can figure out if we ate something that did this or whatever it was."

"I know." The chosen added smugly. "Now, let's get a move on." He then scanned his eyes over the street and then turned his eyes back to the large bandage on Lloyd's forehead.

"But I gotta know. What the heck happened to your head?" the miniature chosen reached up and stabbed Lloyd's forehead with his finger. Cringing, Lloyd pulled out of his reach and rubbed his forehead.

"Yeowch, don't do that." He groaned, as he gingerly massaged his forehead. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell you on the way." Zelos raised an eyebrow and ran a hand through his hair.

"Whatever floats your boat, Bud." He responded, observing the stairs. "Then start talking. We're shipping out for the institute stat."

"Alright." Lloyd agreed, pulling down the straps of his brown pack and tossing one of the tassels of his scarf over his shoulder. Rubbing his pink nose with his arm, the first grader peered around the road, looked over at his crimson counterpart and grinned sheepishly.

"So, how do we get there?" He asked. "I kinda forgot." Zelos sighed exasperatedly, his crimson tresses falling into his face.

"I'm not entirely surprised you forgot, Lloyd." He commented loftily. "After all, it wasn't about overthrowing Cruxis or food, so no wonder you forgot where the laboratory was." Lloyd shot Zelos a dirty look and folded his arms.

"Oh, very funny." He grumbled. "But still, where is it?" Brushing a finger under his nose, Zelos grinned and shot his finger straight at the gaggle of ladies with the fluffed skirts and tall beehive hairstyles.

"If we get past that pack of painted wolves, we'll get to the stairs and it'll be a beeline right for the bottom." He replied. "After that, it's a straight shot to the left." Suddenly, Zelos' eyes sparkled and, latching a hand onto Lloyd's arm, took off in a dash towards the clump of women.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Lloyd protested as he was dragged along. "I gotta go back in there?! I just got out of there and-"

"And back in you go." Zelos grinned and, with a powerful swing, threw Lloyd into the throngs of rouge ridden middle-aged women.

"I'll get you back for this!" Lloyd called threateningly as he disappeared from view. Laughing madly and not at all intimidated by his friend's threats that echoed through the cluster, Zelos rolled up his sleeves and dove into the growing crowds of ladies, making his way to the stairs.

* * *

"And that's how I got here." Lloyd breathed as the two boys sprinted down the stairs. It had taken quite the amount of effort to escape the closely knit gaggle of rich cougars and after they had successfully squirmed their way out, the pair of young boys roared down the steps. During their excursion, Lloyd had filled Zelos in on what had happened to him since they had all scattered.

"What, you serious?" Zelos gaped. "The old dude of death found you AND you're still in one piece?!" Lloyd shrugged and kept up his pace, each step he took echoing down the stairs.

"Yeah, I know, right? Not only that, but he said he wasn't going to turn me into Cruxis or Yggdrasill." He added, his scarf tails whipping about behind him. "And when we got here, he let me go just like that, no fight or anything."

Zelos' eyebrows shot to the roof and he shook his head in disbelief.

"I wanna believe you Bud, but that's... that's just odd." The redheaded chosen frowned. Lloyd frowned as well and sighed.

"That's what I thought. I mean, what kind of enemy doesn't try to take down another enemy when they're weakened? To top it off, he rescues and helps the enemy get better?" Rubbing his cheek with his sleeve, Lloyd trotted down the steps, watching each step to make sure he didn't trip.

"It just doesn't make any sense to me, anyway."

"Regardless of whether or not it's you Lloyd, I don't think it would make much sense to anybody else either." Zelos replied. The chosen ran a hand through his crimson hair, yawned and shook his head, the throngs of sleep still echoing in the corners of his eyes.

"What a weird guy. Still, he's an enemy, Bud. You've gotta keep that in mind." Sighing a little, Lloyd nodded tiredly in agreement and unconsciously felt his forehead, which the freshly changed bandages clung to his head like a barnacle on a pier. When his fingers hit the fresh linen wrap, the small boy's eyes grew heavy and his shoulders slumped.

Kratos had taken so much time and care to reapplying them.. it just didn't seem right to call him an enemy. A betrayer, sure. A royal pain to deal with, definitely. Arrogant and standoffish, certainly. But.. enemy just didn't feel right... not anymore anyway. Sighing to himself, Lloyd shook himself from his thoughts and focused on the stairs in front of his feet again.

".... yeah, I know. There's no way I'm forgetting that he betrayed us and all." He murmured, "But still... why did he help me? I don't get it." Zelos shrugged and sped up his running, the bubblegum pink flaps of his trench coat billowing behind him against the breeze.

"I dunno, Bud, I dunno." He responded wistfully. "Though, maybe he did that on purpose." Lloyd's cherrywood eyes shifted to Zelos and his chestnut eyebrow arched.

"How do you figure that one?" He asked curiously. Yawning a little, Zelos gazed up at the blue sky and stretched.

"Think about it, Lloyd. Why would he be so.. nice is such a strong word...." The pink clad chosen screeched to a halt on the stairs and thought, his hand on his chin.

".... civil!" Zelos pumped a fist into the air. "Yeah, that's it. Why would that guy be civil to you if he's your enemy?" Flashing a finger in the air, he thrust it front of Lloyd's nose and waved it back and forth like the wand of a metronome.

"Because he wants you to trust him. He's gets you to trust him, he'll get all the answers he needs and then you'll be a Lloyd-kabob in three minutes." Zelos stated bluntly. Lloyd turned a little pale and took a step back, his hand still on his forehead.

".. I don't want to be a Lloyd-kabob." Lloyd replied stiffly. "I'd kinda like to avoid that." Smiling grimly, Zelos patted Lloyd's shoulders and wrapped an arm around them.

"Then best keep what wits you've got about you." He advised, clenching one of his eyes shut and curling his finger like a hook, "Out here, there be monsters." Snorting at Zelos, Lloyd shook his head and brushed off Zelos' arm, though he was grinning at his friend.

"I know, I know." He acknowledged tiredly. "I'll keep an eye out."

"You do that, bud of mine." Zelos grinned and, snagging Lloyd's sleeve, veered to the left and dragged Lloyd after him. Lloyd, having not expected the movement, lost his balance, swung through the air and landed gingerly on the base level of Meltokio.

"Ack... don't do that! You almost made me fal-" Lloyd began to complain, but Zelos didn't give him any time to do so. Red tresses smacking his younger friend in the face, he whipped down the street, Lloyd's arm firmly in his grasp, and made a beeline for the street that led to Elemental Research Laboratory.

* * *

"Here we are, Bud." Zelos pointed to the large building that laid in the shadows of the bridge overhead. "Told ya I'd find it." Lloyd snorted and folded his arms against his chest.

"That was before you decided that the lady at the inn needed to be flirted with." He retorted, his chestnut eyebrow caulked in an arch. Placing his palms on the door, the red headed chosen smugly smirked at Lloyd and shrugged.

"Hey, we got candy out of it." Zelos replied as he pushed open the doors to the laboratory with a fierce shove. "It's wasn't a complete waste of time-"

"There you are, you stinkin' chosen!"

Both boys' eyes shot to the building's entrance as a familiar red-clad miniature ninja with spiky black hair charge them, her fiery gaze locked on Zelos. Zelos beamed at her and saluted lazily.

"Heya, Miss Ironing Board, how's it going?" He flashed a charming smile as she drew closer. "I see you managed to keep your fiery personality, though your chest is still flat as a pancake-"

"Don't call me that, you sorry excuse for a chosen!" Sheena jumped, booted him in the stomach and lightly touched back down on the ground. Zelos, writhing on the ground, looked up at her and grinned, though there were tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Heh, I still got it." He smirked jovially at her, who in turned glared daggers at him.

"You've got a lot of things." Sheena retorted hotly, her arms folded against her chest. "What took you so long?"

"Ran into Bud." Zelos replied weakly as he stood up, felt his abdomen for any signs of internal or external bleeding and pulled Lloyd into view. Up until that point, the red clad first grader had managed to stay out of Sheena's sight and thus out of her warpath. Blinking, Sheena looked over at Lloyd and her demeanor changed like the flip of a coin.

"Hey, Lloyd, how's it going?" She asked, her voice sunny. "Did you have a hard time finding your way here?" Lloyd, who had been expecting, paused and shrugged.

"No, it wasn't too hard." He replied, scratching the back of his head. "Not once Zelos actually started paying attention to where he was going."

"Ouch, Bud." Zelos complained as he ran a hand through his long red hair. "And this from the guy who can't stay awake during his lessons?"

"Hey, that's only because they're boring-"

"Okay, okay. We get it." Sheena interrupted both boys' banter and flipped part of her raven bangs out of her face. As she did, the mini ninja noticed the large strips of linen that graced Lloyd's forehead. Her curiosity got the better of her, so Sheena leaned over and prodded Lloyd's bandage with her finger.

"By the way Lloyd, what happened to your head?" She pointed to his bandaged face and poked it with her finger again. Lloyd recoiled at her touch and rubbed the spot where she had skewered his face with her pointy childlike finger.

"Got banged up." He responded. "I don't really know how I did it, but I did quite a job of it anyway."

"Oh.. huh." The ninja nodded in reply and trotted back over to her cabinet where she had sat for the last couple days.

"So, what happened to you guys?" Sheena asked as she retook her spot on the filing cabinet. Lloyd looked down at himself and then at Zelos, who had begun braiding his hair.

"It's a long story." He admitted. Sheena shrugged.

"Eh, I got time." She replied boredly. "So spill, what's the deal with everyone so far?" Lloyd peered back at Zelos in an effort for help with the story telling, but Zelos merely whistled to himself, ignoring Lloyd's pleading looks. Lloyd dealt him a death glare and then turned to Sheena, whose gaze hadn't wavered.

"Well..." Lloyd quickly explained about what had happened to him to Sheena, how he had run into Kratos and such, his departure from the House of Guidance, and the information he had learned from the nun about the four seraphim. Conveniently he left out the part of falling from a window, nearly being suffocated by said nun and attempting to interrogate Kratos while he was in his underwear. Such things he didn't ever want to think about again, let alone say them in front of the loudest boy in Tethe'alla.

"And that's what happened to me." He summed up. Sheena rested a hand on her cheek as she listened and nodded once Lloyd had finished.

"Uh huh." she responded after she thought a minute. "Man, that's really weird. Why didn't Kratos turn you into curry when he had the chance?"

"That was what I said, 'cept I thought Lloyd'd be a kabob by now." Zelos added, still fiddling with his hair.

"Really? I thought Lloyd'd be more of a soup or curry-"

"Does it really matter?" Lloyd interrupted, his face turning red over the thought of being turned into a tasty treat. "Anyway, I got here and Zelos was the only one I found. Except him, you and Kratos, I haven't heard from or seen anybody."

"That's not good." Sheena shook her head tiredly. "And here I'd hoped we'd have at least heard from Colette or something-"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about her." Zelos interjected as he tied of the tail of his braid and let it hang on his shoulders. "She's fine."

"She is?" Lloyd asked surprisedly. Zelos nodded lazily and flopped against the cabinet that Sheena sat on.

"Yeah. She's babysitting Yuan and the Renegades right now, so she's just fine." He replied as he yawned into his hand. "She and I got nabbed by the Renegades and now she's hanging out with them."

The brunette boy glowered at the ground and curled his hand into a fist, thinking about the renegade ambush that had led all of them apart.

"Yuan... you're going to regret having done that..." He growled aloud, but Zelos' laugh shook him out of it.

"Don't be so glum, Bud." Zelos grinned. "This all worked out in our favor. Ya see, I suggested Colette stay behind so we can A) Keep an eye on Yuan and B) Keep her out of the way of Cruxis. Everyone wins."

Lloyd's eye twitched and he fought the urge to box the chosen's ears.

"You could have said something, y'know." He commented crankily. Zelos thought about it, shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, I could have, but I just got out of some very important beauty sleep and-" The chosen's utterly pathetic excuse cut off short as the door leading the basement opened with a loud creak and a set of footsteps echoed through the entry room. As the owner of the footsteps, a half elf scientist with green hair and a special badge that read 'Head Scientist', reached the main floor, the tiny shinobi beamed with delight and stood up from her seat on the filing cabinet.

"Did you get my results back?" Sheena asked hopefully as she bounced off the cabinet. The head scientist looked over at Sheena, and he sighed unhappily, his shoulders slumping as he did.

"Unfortunately, we did not.. nor can we. It has just been brought to our attention that we cannot help you further, regardless if we want to, which we do." The scientist said, regret dripping in his voice. Sheena, Lloyd and Zelos gaped at him.

"What? Why?" Sheena asked, horrified.

"The pope has put out a direct order that any persons found helping the Chosen or his companions will be put to death." The half elf responded. "He's even captured one of the others and has set a date for her execution, so he can use her as an example."

"What?!" Lloyd demanded, pushing forward. "Who?"

"Kate, one of the half elf researchers from Sybak."

Lloyd's blood boiled and he crunched his tiny hand into a fist, fire in his eyes. Because of assisting their escape from the clutches of the Papal Knights so they could save Genis and the Professor, Kate was set to be executed with no mercy. He wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't.

"We've gotta save her!" He exclaimed to the other two children before he wheeled around and stared down the researcher.

"Where's she being kept?" Lloyd asked, the spikes of his hair flaring with intensity. Taken aback by the boy's passion, the researcher blinked.

"She's being held in the prison in the Castle." He responded. "I believe there is a way to get in via a route underneath in the coliseum but-"

"Fine by me." Lloyd interrupted and pivoted back to the mini ninja and the shrunken chosen.

"Let's go, you guys." He proclaimed and made for the door, his scarf billowing behind him. However, just as he reached for the door, Zelos jumped in front of him and held his arms out as a barrier.

"Whoa, whoa, and how do you plan on doing that, Lloyd?" The seven year old asked incredulously. "The only way you can get in there is by competing and you're six-"

"That doesn't matter and I don't care!" Lloyd replied sharply, so sharply that Zelos pulled back in shock. "She helped us, so we have to help her!" Ducking under Zelos' arm, Lloyd wrenched open the door and glanced over his shoulder at them.

"You guys can come if you want, but I'm going." He stated curtly, and with a flick of his scarf, sprinted down the cobbled path as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Zelos watched his stubborn friend dash off in a stupor and sighed, though he was smiling.

"Regardless of his size or age, Lloyd's still Lloyd." Zelos nodded approvingly.

"Yeah, no kidding." Sheena agreed, her arms folded. Nodding to each other, both of them then swiftly pursued the tiny idealist up the street and stairs, and towards the huge battle dome of Meltokio.

* * *

"Whaddya mean I'm too little to compete?!" Lloyd demanded as his eyes partially peered over the counter.

"Sorry Squirt, but rules are rules." The woman behind the counter of the coliseum. "We can't have little kids going in there to get turned into pancakes. It's bad press."

"But that's not right!" Lloyd protested. "I have just as much right to fight as the others do-"

"You're very cute, but shoo, kid." The lady yawned at her post and flicked him away with her wrist. Lloyd glowered at her and retreated to his friends, feeling thoroughly annoyed and defeated.

"Now what?" He hissed to them in a hushed whisper. Zelos looked over Lloyd's shoulder at the young lady, who was reading a fashion's magazine and smirked.

"Leave this to me." He told them smugly and strode past Lloyd, his pink coat swishing behind him. Zelos skipped over to the counter and began chatting happily to the woman, swaying his weight from leg to leg like a little boy.

Instead of chastising him or shooing him away, the receptionist started cooing over how cute and precocious he was, her face growing pink. Zelos kept up his little charade for about ten minutes, before he beamed at her, and skipped back over to his two gaping companions.

"There's your ticket, Bud." The chosen wryly smiled, holding out a pink slip with Lloyd's name written on it. Taking it from him, Lloyd read the warrior's ticket and stared back at Zelos in shock and awe.

"How did you do it?" He asked incredulously. Zelos winked and bowed dramatically, his garnet braid flipped over his left shoulder.

"I have my ways." He replied smugly. "Mostly it's just charming my way in using cute phrases and the right expressions at key points. Now, let's get in there before my charms wear off and she changes her mind." All three children nodded in agreement and scurried into the waiting room for the fighters.

Once the trio of children made it inside the waiting quarters, Lloyd scanned the entire room for any means of getting into the dungeon. They did find the door at first glance, as it was a huge oaken door with bars on it that had a plaque with 'Dungeon' written on it and was thus hard to miss, but they found it to be locked and desperately searched around the floor in an effort to locate the key.

"Any sign of the key yet?" Lloyd called as he scoped out some short swords, picking them up, swinging them around, and putting them back in disgust. Zelos felt up and down the floor, crimson eyebrows set in a frown and shook his head.

"Not yet, but I'll keep looking while you're in there getting your butt kicked and maybe by the time you get dragged out, I'll have found it." He replied, checking the floor along the door frame. Lloyd snorted and picked up a pair of matching short swords.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence there, Zelos." He retorted sarcastically, giving each sword a swing. "How will I ever lose now?" Satisfied with the swords he found, Lloyd stashed them into the leather sheathe holder Sheena had run out and bought him and adjusted it accordingly. Originally the holster had been for a children's set of wooden swords, but it worked well just the same.

"Okay, I think I'm ready now." Lloyd told the guard at the gate, who had been asleep at his post the entire time. Jolting awake, the guard glanced groggily at Lloyd, yawned and pushed the door open.

".... good luck, squirt.." He yawned and quickly fell back asleep, snoring vociferously. Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the narcoleptic guard and then turned his attention to the door that led to the blazing scene of the arena. He frowned, deep in thought over his battle strategy, but was thrown out of it when a hand suddenly clapped onto his shoulder.

"Well, do you best Bud and, whatever you do, don't get turned into a Lloyd-kabob." Zelos grinned, patting Lloyd's back sharply. Wincing at the impact of Zelos' hand on his shoulders, Lloyd shook it off and stared flatly at the chosen, his face and expression radiating how annoyed he was.

"I'm not gonna be a Lloyd-kabob!" Lloyd glared exasperatedly at Zelos, readjusted his scarf and eyed the heavy oak door as it laid there open and waiting for his entrance into the coliseum's battlegrounds.

"Here goes nothing." Lloyd held his chin up high and strode into the arena, his hands brushing against the hilts of his new swords.

* * *

**Whahah! Another chapter completed!**

**Lloyd: Wait, I get to fight now? Awesome!**

**Zelos: Yeah, that's the one thing you're actually pretty good at.**

**Lloyd: What's that supposed to mean?!**

**Zelos: Ahahaha! What do you think?**

**Lloyd: .... I think I'm not going to wait until next chapter to test my swords out.**

**Zelos: ... wait... what?!**

**Lloyd: **_**Demon Fang**_**!!**

**Zelos: Augh! *is 'Demon Fang**_**'**_**ed***

**Me: Let's not 'Demon Fang' people just yet. Save it for later.**

**Lloyd: Oh.. alright.**

**Me: Please Review!**


	10. The Littlest Gladiator

**Author's Note: Hello all! I have returned and brought with me a new chapter! Egads, I know. Anyway, let's get this show on the road, shall we?**

**Thank yous sent to all of you who read, favorited, alerted and all that fun stuff. As for the reviews, sensational cookies and thank yous sent to Stephy825, Bubble-Headed Brunette, Amekoryuu, Kiomori, AbyssalDaemon, Destiny's Light and freakyanimegal. Your reviews are really and wholly appreciated and you all gave me the warm and fuzzies.**

**Genis: ... 'warm and fuzzies'?**

**Me: Yes. 'Warm and fuzzies'.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, we'd all actually know what Anna looks like. It's driving me nuts that Namco isn't giving us more than just a few hints here and there. I want concrete pictures, darn it!**

**But enough of my rant. Onto the story!**

Chapter Ten: The Littlest Gladiator

Immediately upon entering the arena, rays of sunlight sparkled through the doorway and blinded the first grader who had barely made it into the sun. Lloyd groaned, the sun stinging his eyes and brought up his left arm as a shield against it.

"Ugh.. sun in the eyes. Not a great way to start a fight." He sighed annoyedly at the rays of daylight that attempted to scorch his corneas. He had spent far too much time loitering inside all day in the dark, and when he had finally gone into the light, it was too much for his poor eyes to bear all at once. Lloyd tried opening an eye, but it was too soon and the bright rays stung in his eyes, making him clench them shut once more.

After a minute or two of hiding his eyes behind his sleeve and then his fingers, Lloyd's pupils finally adjusted to the daylight that surrounded him and he peeked an eye open. The tiny boy let out a breath of relief at being able to see again and quickly scanned the coliseum's arena, searching for his opponents.

'Huh... they must not be in here yet.' He mused to himself as he stiffly walked into the center of the ring, his head held high. The crowds that had filled the seats to the rafters of the arena all cheered like a gaggle of hyperactive squirrels, chattering away and trilling out choruses of cheers. Lloyd skeptically watched them all skitter about in their seats and raised an eyebrow.

'Don't any of these people have jobs?' He asked incredulously as he eyed all of them, rich regalia all around their bodies and faces. 'I know they're all mostly rich, but come on-'

"And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for!" A painfully vigorous voice crooned into his microphone as the announcer, like Lloyd, entered the ring from the side. The sensation of a tremendous rush of boisterous sound beating against his tender eardrums, Lloyd's eyes crossed and he clapped his hands over his ears, trying to stave off the impending blasts from the speakers overhead.

"You've been asking, waiting, dying for yet another performance by our talented warriors that have come all the way from Altamira just for you! And they heard your requests and will display once again their prowess as an unstoppable fighting force!" The announcer bellowed into the microphone, which sent the coliseum into another chorus of rigorous cheering.

Blenching in agony over his precious hearing, Lloyd peeled one of his eyes open and shifted it towards the source of his torment. However, when he did, he didn't know if he would ever be able to look away.

The stadium announcer wore a lurid set of bright orange balloon pants that flared out like he had stuffed them to the brim with hot air, a lime green vest with matching lace all around the cuffs of the insanely loud yellow shirt that had been stuffed underneath it. At the base of his neck, a purple and orange polka dotted cravat had latched onto his neck like a leech and was sucking all of the fashion out of him, one dot at a time. His shoes were no better, as they matched the awful cravat, and they sported a ring of yellow lace around the ankle of the shoe, which then flared out into the air where it would bombard anyone who had the unfortunate idea as to look.

All in all, he wore the most hideous outfit Lloyd had ever believed he had seen. And that was saying something, since he had escaped from a pack of polyester clad hyenas just hours before.

".... there's no way those colors actually appear in nature." He murmured, his eyes locked on the frilly frock with a combination of horror and avid fascination.

The announcer paid no mind to Lloyd's gawking, as it was plainly obvious he was in love with the sound of his own voice. The crowd cheered and called jubilantly over the air and the balloon pant wearing man shot his hands toward the other side of the arena, waving them for all he was worth.

"And here they are, ladies and gents, the toast of Altamira, the legends of Lezarano, the-"

"We get it already!" A voice echoed through the crowd, which was then followed by a surge of laughter rolling over the stands.

"Alright, alright, don't get pushy!" The announcer snapped back at the roaring audience and shot his arm back to the far side of the coliseum's battle grounds.

"The Soothing Spell Weaver, The Deadly Duelist and The Colossal Crusher!"

Lloyd turned his gaze, as did the rest of the crowd, to the far side of the arena as the huge doors on the other side swung open and clattered against the stone walls. Out of the doors strode a rather painted up woman with an outfit that would have made Pronyma blush, make up plastered all over face like mortar. The second one to show, a rather flashy man who wielded a rapier and a smug expression strolled onto the scene, long black hair trailing down behind his back. His sudden appearance incited several squeals of delight from the women of the audience and a gagging face from Lloyd.

"Ugh.. this guys is too much.." the boy grimaced as he watched the haughty guy prance back and forth, showering himself in his own attention. "Even by Zelos' standards, he's revolting."

However, Lloyd's train of thought halted immediately when a stomp echoed throughout the arena and shook the ground like an earthquake. Reeling around, the first grader froze when a mountain of a man lurched out from underneath the door and lumbered across the yard towards the announcer, who had also frozen like an icicle in Celsius' touch. The gigantic warrior held in his hands a heavy looking hammer, one that much resembled that of the Renegade that Lloyd had run across at the Martel Temple. In fact, the man who wielded the hammer could have been an exact replica of the first.

'Huh.. I wonder if they're related or something.' Lloyd mused, his arms folded against his chest.

"And... and there they are, glorious fans!" The fluffy announcer shrieked into the mic, having gotten his lungs back. As the three fighters strode over to the announcer, the tiny boy in red sized them up briefly and had to fight back the urge to laugh vehemently.

'She smiles funny and her face'll crack.' Lloyd snickered to himself as the three opponents approached the center of the arena, waving to all of their clamoring fans who practically jumped out of their seats at them. 'Plus, that guy is so full of himself, Zelos would have to work overtime just to get close. Though..' Lloyd eyed the huge ogre of a man at the end and inhaled sharply.

'I'm not surprised he got that name.' The boy murmured apprehensively as he fixed his eyes on the huge hammer the colossus carried. The size and shape of the axe hinted that it was perfectly capable of turning him into a Lloyd pancake and Lloyd wasn't about to give him the chance to try it out. That was one thing he didn't want Zelos holding over his head for the rest of eternity and a day. Plus, the whole getting squished thing didn't sound too appetizing. Snorting to himself, Lloyd continued to observe the mallet in case it decided to try something funny, mostly because of not wanting to be squished, but Zelos mocking him would be unbearable too.

"And over in this side we have-" The announcer turned over, his gestures wild and dramatic and pointed straight at Lloyd. However, when his finger rested on Lloyd, the announcer stopped his banter and stared, just like Lloyd had gaped at the blinding colors that the man donned.

".... a kid?"

Thick muteness befell everyone in the entire coliseum as the announcer, the guards, the fighters and the audience all stared at Lloyd. Lloyd, who had never been fond of being stared at, felt incredibly awkward as he sat under their scrutinizing gaze and cleared his throat.

'Urgh... stop staring at me.' He groaned. 'It's creepy.'

"Who let this kid in here?!" The announcer suddenly bellowed over at the security guards, his voice resonating powerfully in the microphone. Both of the security guards, who had the appearance and probably the combined IQs of a tree stump, looked lamely over at each other in confusion and shrugged back to the frilly announcer. Irked by the announcer and his lack of figuring out who he was, Lloyd steeled his gaze and shot them all a stubborn glare.

"I'm the next challenger!" Lloyd called irritatedly at the announcer, his hands firmly at the hilts of his swords. The announcer gave Lloyd the once over and chortled heartily.

"You hear that, fans? The little boy is the next challenger!" He crowed over the speakers, which incited another thundering from the audience, though it was one of laughter.

Lloyd didn't like being stared at, but he hated being laughed at, especially by a large number of people he didn't know. Too many days of being picked at by the other villagers for his odd appearance and laughed at by the children for getting bored in class, thus falling asleep in class, had drilled that loathing deep into his mind. A joke was one thing, but when he was serious.... he despised it.

"I'm serious!" The first grader barked angrily, unsheathing his swords and pointing the one in his right hand at the three fighters from Altamira. "I'm here to fight!"

The crowd continued to laugh, as did the Altamira fighters and the Announcer. However, the announcer was silenced by the fierce glare that Lloyd shot towards him that made it abundantly clear he was fully set on fighting. Staring at the boy like he was crazy, the announcer shrugged and marched over to him, his balloon pants bouncing with each step.

"You're serious, huh? Alright, alright.." the announcer sighed, obviously humoring the kid, and bent over so he was eye level with the boy, to Lloyd's ultimate disgust.

"What's your name, kid?" The commentator asked hurriedly. "I gotta announce you." Lloyd snorted, since he had already figured that, and, sheathing his right handed sword, glanced over at the other opponents. They had all been very open about who they were, so should he as well? Even though their actual names hadn't been mentioned, the crowd seemed to know who they were by their titles and they had had no problem basking in the glow of their fame. However, they didn't have a warrant for their arrests either. Lloyd thought long and hard, his tapered eyebrows set down in a frown. Should he use an alias? That made sense, but on the other hand, he never liked lying about who he was. What to do, what to do...

"Any day now, kid." The announcer's voice and fingers snapped the petite boy out of his thinking stupor. Glowering as he was thrown from his thoughts, Lloyd held his head up high and stood up as straight as he could, his chestnut hair fluttering in the wind.

"It's Lloyd. Lloyd Irving." The boy stated proudly with all the fortitude he could muster. While he did have a thing or two to hide, Lloyd wasn't about to let some announcer, some fighters, an audience or a warrant for his arrest scare him off.

The announcer did a double take and stared at Lloyd incredulously, his orange and purple cravat poofed against his face.

"Wait.. isn't that the name of that wanted seventeen year old kid-"

"Do I look seventeen to you?!" Lloyd snapped irritably. "You said it yourself, I'm a little kid. There's not a chance I could be that guy."

Also, he had the back up excuse of having the body of a first grader to cover his actual identity, so he didn't need to lie.

"Well.. okay, kid. If you say so." The clownish commentator shrugged and flipped back around to face the crowd, his frizzed hair bouncing about the air.

"And the new challenger, The Pint-Sized Pewit, Lloyd Irving!"

"I'm not pint sized!"

"Let the match begin!" The announcer bellowed into the microphone, having completely ignored Lloyd's indignant protest. Snorting at the puffy panted man, the little boy turned on his heel towards the three opponents and shot his hands to the handles of his swords.

"Alright. Let's get this started." Lloyd pulled out both of his new swords out of their leather scabbards and pointed his right sword at the three fighters on the other side of the arena. "I hope you're ready, because I'm not in the mood for wasting time!"

Instead of being startled, taken aback or even slightly put off, the trio of opponents regarded the boy for a second or two, turned to each other and glanced back at him. As if by gunshot, the woman, who looked as thought she could pop out of her outfit at one false breath, exploded, her face as pink as a tulip and let out a high pitched squeal.

"Aww, he's so cute!" The woman cooed at Lloyd, her sparkling staff hugged against her bosom. "This must be an exhibition match! Isn't he just the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

"Oh please, we all know the cutest thing here is me. Besides, I don't do exhibition matches. They don't let me be the center of the stage." The fop with the rapier sniffed and looked down his nose at Lloyd, who still hadn't moved from his challenging position. "Put those things down, boy, you'll poke your eye out."

Lloyd glowered at his condescending attitude and tightened the grip on his swords. He was just itching to turn that guy into a Fillet of Fop the moment he got a chance.

"What, you think you can't lose?" Lloyd asked challengingly. The fop yawned and flicked his wrist at the first grader, his expression bored and shallow.

"Of course." He replied loftily. "There's no chance a pitiful little boy like yourself could ever hope to win against one of us, let alone three." he then flicked his wrist at Lloyd in a shooing motion and smirked at him.

Run along home now, little boy." He added. "I'm sure you'll be late for your nap time."

Lloyd's face grew hot with anger and his blood boiled under his skin, just dying to teach the overzealous twit of a fop a lesson.

'No.. calm down.. calm down..' a voice echoed in his mind, a soothing and coaching voice. 'He's only trying to get to you to throw you off guard... be like a rock.. cold as ice.... ice...' Steeling his gaze, Lloyd eyed the fop and, holding his head up high, said the first thing that popped in his mind.

"Overconfidence breeds carelessness." He glared coldly at the overly sparkle infested sorry excuse for a swordsman. The fop froze like he had been slapped.

"What was that?" He asked, his voice in a deadly whisper. Lloyd snorted and shook his head.

"The more a person speaks, the less they know." The boy replied coolly as he eyed the foppish man with a disgusted expression. "And judging by your track record, the only thing in between your ears is air and maybe some of your stupid make up."

The painted up man's heavily mascara ridden eye twitched.

"Y'know, kid, I was gonna go easy on you, but you and your snotty attitude just pissed me off." He growled, stomping towards the boy, his lacy hands balled into fists. Taking out his flimsy rapier, he pointed the tip at Lloyd and smirked.

"Here's where you get some proper discipline!" He raised it above his head and swung it down in an arc. However, when he fully swung down, Lloyd was no longer there.

_"Demon Fang!"_

A shock of raw power hit the fop and threw him off his balance, knocking him into the side of the colossal man with the hammer. Wheeling around, the fop saw that the boy had side stepped and delivered a powerful attack with his left sword. The fop grinned, wiping some sweat off his chin and stalked towards the boy, fire burning in his eyes.

"You're gonna regret that, kid." The fop growled, the tip of his flimsy rapier raised. Glaring, Lloyd brought both of his swords up in a cross and parried the skinny sword away. He then dashed forward and jumped into the air with a powerful leap.

_"Tempest!"_ The tiny boy spiraled like a saw blade in the air and sliced through the air, cutting it cleanly in half. The fop ducked so he didn't lose his head, but his hair wasn't so lucky. The blades of Lloyd's swords chopped off a good chunk of his well groomed hair, letting the thick locks float precariously to the ground. The frilly fighter shot his head up, feeling what was left of his hair, his mouth open in sheer mortification. As he passed over in an arc, Lloyd raised his knee up and nailed the fop in the back of the head with a side kick. When the blow collided with the mangled skull of the fop, he flew into the side of the wall, which resulted in a nasty crunching sound that made everyone in the coliseum cringe.

Lloyd touched down on the ground and pivoted around, his swords in an 'X' formation. He let out a light breath and eyed the stadium wall, his tapered eyebrows frowning underneath his bandaged head.

A groan of furious intent rumbled from the wall and a dust covered figure emerged, debris, dirt and other bits of muck strewn about his once pristine clothes. The fop had turned a nasty shade of purple, which spread like a fungus all up and down his face in blotches, completely destroying the dashing nature he had put on as a facade.

"Why you little-" Lloyd didn't give him a chance to finish. Diving forward, the boy vaulted into the air and delivered a sharp boot to the frilly man's stomach. The force of the tiny boy's body colliding with his own sent him reeling back sharply into the wall. Seeing his companion getting turned into a kicking bag, the giant tightened his grip on the handle of his gigantic hammer and looked to the mage.

"I'll help him." The colossus muttered, gripping his huge hammer, and started towards Lloyd. Lloyd turned around, saw what was coming towards him and blanched.

'Oh great...not this again.' He groaned, the scene of Iselia trotting out of his memory. Sure, he had been a lot weaker back then, but he had two others to help him and Kratos wasn't there to bail him out this time. Now, he was alone, a shrimp of his former self and there was a hammer twice his size pounding the ground.

He had to come up with a plan and quick, lest he become a Lloyd pancake.

'When in doubt... run for it!' Lloyd turned tail and dashed away from the hammer, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. The warrior with the hammer trailed right behind him, the hammerhead of his weapon barely missing the ends of Lloyd's white scarf.

'I gotta get him off my tail.' the boy gasped to himself as he dodged out of the way of a swing from the hammer. Every step the boy took, the blunt instrument smashed and crashed, taking out everything in its wake.

'This guy's just taking out everything that I've stood on... wait...' Lloyd looked over at the fop's spot at the wall and an idea, an incredibly clever, incredibly evil idea crept into his mind. Glancing back at the giant, the boy sprinted over to the fop in the wall and firmly planted in front of the lacy swordsman, who was still trying to get out of the indentation he had made. Once he made sure he was directly in front of the rapier wielding lace nightmare, Lloyd made a rude face at the giant, waving his arms up and down to get his attention.

"Over here, can't catch me!" He taunted. Growling, the colossal man brought up his blunt instrument of destruction and sent it straight down at Lloyd. Smirking, Lloyd jumped out of the way, leaving the fop straight out in the open instead. Staring up at the hammer that was crashing down, the fop's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and his jaw hit the floor.

"No, not me you idiot!" The fop shrieked as the hammer came hurtling down at him. However, by the time the giant had registered what had happened, the fop was in a crater shaped in his image, his hair every which way. Blinking, the giant rushed over to his pancake of a friend and attempted to get him standing again.

"Eesh.. that had to hurt.." Lloyd shuddered grimacing, turning his attention to the final member of the opposing team. His face set in determination, Lloyd steeled himself and ran towards mage, both of his cherrywood eyes locked on her green ones. The mage had already begun her spell, but something was holding her back, something that intrigued Lloyd more than he wanted to admit.

"Hey, what's the hold up?!" He demanded, pointing his left handed sword at her. "Let's go!" The mage regarded Lloyd for a moment and broke out into a wide smile.

"Ooh, you're just so cute!"

If it hadn't been for Lloyd's death grip on his swords, he would have dropped them in shock. He'd never been called 'cute' in a battle before, especially when he was pointing his swords at them and he was winning. The woman stopped her spell mid chant and watched him, her eyes misting over and her cheeks bright pink.

"Y'know, you're just so darned adorable." The mage cooed at Lloyd, who had already raised an eyebrow. "I just can't cast a spell on such a tough little man-

"While I like the compliments, I want to win fair and square." Lloyd interrupted, bringing his swords up and pointing the tips at her. "No holding back." Blinking, the mage shrugged and brought up her staff.

"Alright, kid. I don't really want to, but you asked for it." She replied, the ground around her glowing bright purple. Lloyd quickly sized up what she was going to cast and glanced over at the colossus, who had just returned from checking out his squished comrade. Smirking, Lloyd dove to the side and stood straight in front of the two men who were struggling to remove the first one off the ground. The boy cheerily waved at both of them, causing both of them to scramble back up and at the first grader.

'Come on.. take the bait..' Lloyd's eyes shot back to the mage and he grinned grimly. The charge in the air around her crackled and popped, just like it did when Genis was finishing a particularly powerful spell.

"Wanna charge?" The mage called challengingly, her metallic staff held high into the air. As she pointed her spell at Lloyd, the fop and the giant ran forward, the rapier and the hammer raised high. The six year old held his breath and waited, timing it perfectly and completely ignoring the advancing men behind him.

_"Thunder Blade!"_

A huge sword of pure lightning cascaded into the center of the arena and the very edge of the blade hurtled straight at Lloyd. Instead of running or even flinching, he merely stared it down as it came crashing towards him, not even blinking. At the last instant, Lloyd shoved both of his swords into their holders and vaulted out of the way of the electric blade that surged down into the arena.

The fop and the colossus weren't so lucky.

The weapons of iron and copper conducted the electricity beautifully and as a result, the powerful explosion of lightning shook both of their bodies brutally and sadistically, the currents of electricity running up and down like a highway. When the shock finally died down, both of the fighters lost their balance and fell into a pile of warrior, making it obvious they weren't going to get up any time soon.

"Wha... wha.... wha?" The mage gaped in alarm at what she had just done and fell to her knees in horror. The moment she did, a sword met her throat and Lloyd stood in front of her, his eyes serious and focused.

"You have lost." He announced. "Admit defeat." The mage, thoroughly startled by the young swordsman, fell off her knees and landed in the dirt with a flump.

"I... I.. I admit defeat." She relented, still in shock from losing, and to such a small and skinny boy no less. Smiling happily, Lloyd removed his sword from her neck and sheathed it. He then pivoted back to the announcer, who had fallen dead silent, the microphone barely dangling in his hand, and rested a hand on his hip.

"Shouldn't have underestimated me, huh?" Lloyd grinned at the announcer, whose jaw had hit the dirt surface of the coliseum's floor. The commentator, shaken out of his stupor by the first grader's comments, fumbled with his microphone and turned back to the audience.

"The..the trio of Altamira have fallen to our new challenger, which means that we, ladies and gentlemen, have a new champion!" Reaching into his pocket, the announcer pulled out a solid gold medal with the words 'Meltokio Champion' etched into the medallion and strung the blue velvet ribbon around Lloyd's neck.

"Let's hear it for Lloyd Irving, the Littlest Gladiator!" The announcer then hoisted Lloyd into the air by his arm and showed him to the audience. The audience, who had been stock still the moment Lloyd had unleashed his first demon fang, erupted into raucous cheering and chanted his name. The tiny boy blinked at first when the name 'Lloyd Irving' echoed through the coliseum, but his initial surprise was quickly overtaken by a warming feeling in his stomach.

'.. y'know.. I could get used this." He grinned, fiddling with the medal around his neck and abruptly turned a fierce shade of red when a bunch of flowers fell at his feet, courtesy of some of the younger female spectators.

From the corner, the fop, the colossus and the mage all glanced up from their pile of defeat and stared at him.

"We didn't... hold back, did we? No one, not ever, has been able to beat us.." The fop gasped. "Who.. who is that shrimp?" The colossus shrugged and so did the mage.

"I dunno.. but that's some raw power right there... that's not human.."

"He's not a half elf, though." The mage cut in. "He doesn't smell like one. There's a mana shield around him, so he's not a human or at least, a normal one, but it's not like any half elf I've ever sensed before either." All three looked at each other and stared back at the back of one little boy who had wiped the floor with him.

"Just... who is that kid?"

* * *

The moment Lloyd reentered the waiting room, a flash of red and pink tackled him like a antsy cat on a sluggish fly and slammed him to the ground. The next thing he knew, he was in the embrace of one Tethe'allan chosen, who was proceeding to give him the noogie of the century.

"Bud, I saw you out there and let me tell you that was awesome!" Zelos laughed as he ground his hand into Lloyd's chestnut hair. "That was hilarious how you got the big guy to crush the lacy guy by using yourself as bait! And here I thought you didn't have any smart ideas, but you sure showed me!" He continued holding Lloyd in a headlock, his pink overcoat draped over both him and his red clad captive. Lloyd glared halfheartedly up at Zelos, sighed exasperatedly and broke free, though he was smiling at him the whole time. Rubbing his neck where the chosen had clung to it, Lloyd absently felt the cold metal of the medal with his fingers and grinned again at Zelos, smug over his recent victory.

"Thanks.... hey, wait a minute-" Lloyd's indignant realization over what the chosen had just said was cut off abruptly when a glint of gold metal was thrust into his face. Upon his eyes refocusing, the boy recognized what looked like an old skeleton key that hung off of the tip of Zelos' finger, the leather strap it was attached to looped over the end of his knuckle.

"Before you get all mad with me and all that, lookie what I've got." Zelos grinned, waving the key back and forth just beyond Lloyd's nose. "I found the key-"

"No, you stole it from the sleeping guard." Sheena cut in, having jumped down from her spot on a stacked pile of boxes. Zelos pouted at her and snorted.

"I _rescued_ it, thank you, and it was in dire need of assistance. Do you really think it wanted to spend the rest of its life in that guy's pants pocket?" The chosen responded haughtily, winking at the miniature ninja. "Besides, you're just jealous I saw it first." Sheena rolled her eyes and scoffed irritatedly.

"Oh yeah, I was really jealous over not being the one to frisk the guard and pan through his pockets for anything that resembled loose change." She eyed the chosen annoyedly and shook her head.

"You pickpocket, you."

Zelos pouted again and stuck his tongue out at her. Turning back to his bud, Zelos flicked his hair out of his face and grinned like a hyena.

"So, let's get to rescuing Kate, then." The chosen readjusted his long pink coat and twirled the key around his index finger. "A dungeon is no place for a hunny."

"Yeah, let's get her out of there." Lloyd heartily agreed, taking the key from his redhead friend. Zelos grinned back at Lloyd and cuffed him on the shoulder. Sheena sighed tiredly at the pair of chummy boys and shook her head. At the sigh, both boys turned their attention to her and cocked their heads to the side.

"Uh, guys, that's great and all, but there's a problem." The shrunken acrobat groaned as she pointed to the door, or more specifically at the lock that occupied the top corner of the door.

"The lock's up there." She gestured at it and folded her arms. "No one can reach it." Zelos glanced up at the door and snorted.

"What about you, ye of little chest? Aren't you the ninja type who can reach it?" He suggested. Sheena turned a nasty shade of purple and glared daggers at him.

"No, I can't get that high in the air to reach it and you're lucky you're out of arm range, you sorry excuse for a chosen." She shot back hotly. Folding his arms against his chest, Lloyd peered up at the lock stubbornly. There had to be a way. Any way would work. They just need to get up there...

At that instant, another idea, a wonderfully simple, yet simply wonderful idea soared into Lloyd's mind and perched like a bluebird in his brain.

"Well, shoot. Guess we're up a creek with out a paddle-" Zelos started to moan, but a red sleeved arm shot up near his face and cut him off mid sentence.

"Hold on." Lloyd said, his eyes still on the lock. "I've got an idea." Looking over at him, Zelos laughed a bit and raised an eyebrow at his young friend.

"That's a first." The redheaded chosen snorted. "But okay, what is it, Bud?" Lloyd glowered at Zelos' comment and then pointed to the door once more.

"We can reach that lock." He grinned and turned back to Zelos. "And I know how." The boy then pointed to the chosen and then gestured to the floor.

"Get on your knees, Zelos." Lloyd instructed, his eyes filled with newfound vigor. Both the chosen and ninja fell silent and stared at their miniature leader. In tandem, they glanced over at each other and slowly shifted their gaze back to Lloyd.

"Uh... what now?" Zelos blinked, since barely anyone had ever told him to kneel, with the exception of the king and sometimes Sheena. However, when Sheena told him to kneel, it was because she was suggesting he pray before she sent him to his grave for one of his many offenses to her chest.

"Hurry up and get on the ground, we don't have much time!" Lloyd repeated, craning his head over to the door to make sure that the guard was still out like a light. Silence filled the room again and thickened like butter forgotten in a churn.

"Uh.. okay.." Zelos slowly but surely knelt on the ground, eyeing Lloyd with a mixture of skepticism and confusion the whole time. Once Zelos was firmly planted on the floor, Lloyd trotted over to him, a determined expression on his face. The chosen scrutinizingly watched Lloyd as he approached, but blinked in astonishment when he walked straight past him entirely. Swiveling his head like the rotation on Yuan's chair, Zelos saw that Lloyd had unhooked the holster that held his swords at his sides and held them out for Sheena.

"Hey, Sheena, hold these for me, okay?" Lloyd handed her his swords and turned back to Zelos.

"Okay, now hold still." Lloyd told the chosen seriously, rolling up his sleeves. Zelos looked back at Lloyd incredulously and noticed that Lloyd had that glint in his eye he always got when he was about to do something really stupid.

"What are you.. Bud, hey, hold on-" Zelos began to protest loudly, but it was too late. Lloyd dashed forward and, with an almighty leap, sprang onto his shoulders, like one would with the game of 'leap frog'. However, not telling the other player what was about to happen wasn't usually part of the game. Zelos, having not been prepared for the shock of Lloyd colliding with his shoulders, fell flat on his face with a thud, his curtain of crimson hair draped around his head like an octopus.

It was at that point that Sheena lost it and fell to the floor, laughing like a banshee.

Lloyd blinked, surprised that he was still sitting on the floor, albeit Zelos' body was underneath him. Looking down, the first grader raised an eyebrow and poked the back of Zelos' head for good measure.

"Hey.. hey, Zelos, taking a nap wasn't part of the plan."

"... 'part of the plan'...." A muffled, yet thoroughly miffed voice came from the stone floor. Zelos popped his head up, which resembled a red, tangled mop, and his eyes shot back at Lloyd, burning with the urge to punt him across the room.

"'Part of the freaking plan'?! You landed on me!" Zelos exclaimed, struggling to dislodge the first grader who now occupied his shoulders off of them. "And what the hell are you doing on my shoulders?!"

"If I sit on your shoulders, I should be able to reach the lock with the key." The six year old boy replied cheerily as he sat on the other's shoulders. Zelos gaped at him.

"What, are you crazy?!" He demanded as Sheena's laughter echoed through the room. "That's insane! How the hell am I supposed to lug you around?! And what was with the running start?! I'm not a landing mat!"

"Carefully would be good." Sheena choked out as she sat on the stone floor, clutching her sides. Lloyd laughed amusedly as well and patted Zelos' forehead, grinning from ear to ear.

"It'll work, trust me!" Lloyd retorted, as he sat squarely on Zelos' shoulders. "Genis and I did this all the time to get the sweets jar off Raine's top bookshelf. So stop complaining and get over to the door!" He then bucked Zelos in the ribs like he would a horse and bounced up and down eagerly.

"Now, let's get to that door!" Lloyd held the key like he would his sword and pointed it at the locked dungeon door. Blowing some of his bangs out of his face, the chosen raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes at Lloyd.

"If you screw up my hair, I'm dumping you in the sewer!" Zelos announced threateningly as he wobbled across the room, the tiny swordsman perched on his shoulders. Gingerly and after a few minutes of almost losing their balance and flying into the wall, both chosen and champion reached the door and leaned up against the oaken surface. Zelos gasped in pain as he braced himself against the door and clutched Lloyd's legs, who still sat precariously on his shoulders.

"Bud, what do you eat, bricks?!" The older groaned, holding onto his passenger's shins as Lloyd stretched forward. "Seriously, you weigh a ton!" Lloyd snorted crankily and pushed his head bandage of out his eyes, the weathered key still clenched in his fist.

"Quit complaining, I don't weigh that much." The six year old retorted as he reached towards the lock. However, the lock was a little higher than he had expected and the tip of the key just barely grazed the keyhole. Stretching his neck out, Lloyd frowned and scrunched up his nose.

"Urgh.. the lock's too far.. maybe if I..." Muttering to himself, the tiny boy pulled one of his legs out of Zelos' grasp and repositioned it on the top of his shoulders instead. The other followed suit until he was crouching on the chosen's shoulders as opposed to sitting. Leaning forward, Lloyd then angled himself upward and sank his heels into the creases of the other boy's clavicles.

"Yeowch! Bud, pay attention to where you're stepping!" Zelos squawked, but Lloyd paid him no heed. Once he'd managed to get the heels of his shoes planted in the red headed boy's shoulders, Lloyd then sat down on the top of Zelos' head, arm, hand and key outstretched. Zelos let out a squall of indignation as the weight of Lloyd's body collided with his head and swayed from side to side, trying to shake his bud off his skull and more importantly, his hair.

"Dude, you're on my head!" Zelos bellowed, but Lloyd was too busy being focused on the lock to pay any attention to his friend's shrieks of anger. Despite Zelos' flailing below, Lloyd stretched out as far as he could and aimed the key at the keyhole, his fingers gripping the key for all they were worth. Lloyd jammed his hand straight down on the crown of Zelos' head for support as he leaned out towards the lock, the palm of his hand scrunching up Zelos' headband and shoving it down over his face in the process.

"Just a little more... and..." Lloyd shoved the key into the keyhole and twisted it sharply to the left. The gears in the lock mechanism crunched unhappily and rather unsettlingly, but a click from inside the door snapped and the door swung open, revealing a large set of stone stairs. Lloyd's eyes brightened at his accomplishment and he turned to Sheena, who gave him a thumb's up in response. He then shifted his eyes back to the door and patted Zelos' forehead, consequently messing up his hair.

"Hey, Zelos, I got the door unlocked. Now we can go get Kate!" Lloyd gazed down at Zelos and beamed, rather pleased with himself. Zelos glanced up at Lloyd through the eye that wasn't covered by his headband, gave him a flat look and turned his attention back at the door.

".. that's great. And Bud?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"GET OFF MY HEAD!"

* * *

"Kate?" Lloyd looked in a particularly dirty cell that bordered the rim of the prisoner's quarters. It was empty and had been for a while by the looks of it, though the rest of the cells didn't look much better. Groaning to himself, Lloyd rubbed his bandaged forehead in perplexity and turned to his two friends, who were scoping out another cell.

"Anything yet?" He called. Sheena looked up from where she was and shook her head.

"Not a thing. You'd figure they'd have labeled these or something." The ninja sighed. "It woulda made it more helpful that way."

"Guys, over here!" Zelos made a 'come hither' motion with his hand and pointed inside a particularly grimy cell. In the far corner, a lone half elf researcher sat, her glasses askew about her nose, her once pristine clothes mucked and her eyes dull and sorrowful. All in all, she looked absolutely miserable.

"Kate!" Lloyd rushed to the bars and almost stuffed his head through them in excitement. Glancing up, the researcher locked eyes with her new visitor and did a double take, not sure if what she saw was real.

".... Lloyd?" Kate blinked, staring back at the boy,. She paused, readjusted her glasses and quickly removed them them, examined them to see if they were dirty. After she cleaned them on her skirt, Kate placed them back on her nose and gaped. Her glasses hadn't been dirty after all.

"What... what happened to you?" She asked incredulously. "Why are you all children and... what happened to your head?" Lloyd paused, his hand going subconsciously for his head bandage, and shrugged, though his hand never left the wrapped barrier of cloth on his forehead.

"We don't know. That's one of the things we're trying to find out." Lloyd replied through the bars as he began picking the lock on the cell. "But we can worry about that later." Once he finally forced the lock open, the door swung open and Lloyd ran in the cell and over to Kate.

"But right now, we're here to rescue you." He grinned, offering her a hand up. Kate looked at the hand the boy had outstretched, but did not take it.

"I am... while I appreciate you coming to my rescue, I am not going to leave." The half elf turned her eyes away from him and watched the dank wall, her eyes misting. "I shall atone for what I have done.. to Presea... to everyone." Lloyd gaped. Why would she want to stay in here? It was only a matter of time before the Pope got too impatient and...

"But they'll kill you!" Lloyd protested. "And how will atone for what you did if you're dead?" The first grader clenched his hand into a fist and glared at the floor.

"Dying won't settle anything! If you want to atone for what you did, work for the rest of your life to help others, not waste it in here helping no one." He tore his eyes away from the floor so they rested on the glint of her glasses frames.

"And we need your help right now!" Kate watched Lloyd, taken aback by his words and unsure of what to say.

".. I-"

Snorting impatiently, Lloyd snagged Kate's hand and pulled on it, gesturing to the cell door with the other.

"Come on!" Lloyd tugged on it desperately. "We'll explain everything when we get back to the institute, but we can't do anything until you come with us and you won't be able to do anything if you're not alive!" Kate stared at Lloyd's fervent plea and, although she did not look very convinced, reluctantly nodded.

"I... alright." She relented. "Let's go then. However, I would like a full explanation on what is going on and what happened to you all when we get to the institute." Getting to her feet, the half elf research allowed the first grader to drag her out of the cell and into the main prison hall. Zelos stretched and rested his arms against the back of his head.

"You and me both, sister." He replied loftily. Lloyd rolled his eyes at Zelos and looked over his shoulder at them all.

"Alright you guys, back to the research institute!" The six year old pointed to the door and raced up up the stairs, Zelos, Sheena and Kate in his wake.

* * *

In the corner of the Renegade leader's office, a rustle of fabric on the couch echoed through the room and the face of a tiny cherub peeked out from the folds of the blanket, which was also known as a cape. The cherub yawned, blinked her eyes several times and stretched.

"... huh... what happened?" Colette sat up, and brushed some of her blonde hair of her face. She glanced around at where she sat and stretched again. It seemed she hadn't left that spot since she had sat down to wait for both the tailor and Mister Yuan to come back into the office, and she must have dozed off. It had been a long day after all. A little girl needed to take a power nap every once in a while.

The chosen looked down, saw that she was still clutching the cape she had been fiddling with when she had been waiting for them both and threw it off her torso, letting it pile next to her. Gingerly, Colette got to her feet and looked around. The tailor had been long gone by then and so were the rest of the sewing equipment. All that was left were her, her new clothes and one angel commander, who was at his desk, his arms folded against it and resting against the surface of the oaken construct, while the left side of his face rested against his forearm guards. Smiling at her newfound 'friend', the chosen smiled and bounced off the couch, landing lightly on the floor, and held out the hem of her dress.

"Mister Yuan, what do you think?" She twirled around in a circle and beamed. "I really like it. It's really comfortable and the tailor did a really good job, don't you think?" Yuan didn't respond. He seemed far too focused on something he was working on, most likely the papers that were under his arms. Walking over, Colette tugged on Yuan's cape to get his attention.

"Mister Yuan, what are you working on?" She asked curiously, but didn't get a response. Frowning, the tiny chosen summoned her rosy wings and floated into the air. Even though there was a small cherub floating near his arm, Yuan still didn't make even the slightest motion that he noticed.

"Mister Yuan?" Colette's pink wings flapped up and down silently as she hovered over his shoulder and poked it with her finger.

Yuan didn't move.

Colette tried tugging on the sleeve of his shirt with both of her petite hands.

Yuan didn't move.

Colette flipped his ponytail back and forth like she was trying to swat flies with it.

Yuan still didn't move.

Colette sighed. No matter what she did, it was no use. Yuan didn't move. Leaning forward, Colette craned her neck out and lightly brushed the cerulean bangs that obscured the right side of Yuan's face from view.

Yuan was asleep, his head resting on his arms heavily and his breathing in a steady cadence. Instantly, Colette felt extremely guilty for trying to get his attention when he was fast asleep.

"Poor Mister Yuan, he must be so tired." She commented empathetically. "Though.. I didn't think that angels needed naps.. hm.. I'll have to ask him about that. Maybe I just don't know enough about being an angel." She nodded to herself. "Though, maybe that's because he's a part time angel. He doesn't need a lot, just a nap every once in a while."

Truth was that angels were perfectly capable of sleeping, though most just chose to opt out because it was a waste of valuable time. However, Colette wasn't aware of such a fact. Regardless, the fact that Yuan was asleep at his desk was more pressing than whether or not he really needed it.

Frowning a little, Colette flew back to the couch where she had been napping and snagged the freshly mended cape she'd been using as a blanket. Once she held it firmly in her arms, Colette glided back over to the sleeping angelic commander and carefully draped it about his shoulders like one would a thick quilt. Although he was already wearing a cape, the other spread over his shoulders very heavily and sat like a blanket of snow. Pleased with her handiwork, the tiny chosen floated down and lightly kissed his cheek.

"Have a nice nap, Mister Yuan." Colette beamed and touched back down on the carpeted floor of the office. The moment she did, her stomach let out an unruly growl and echoed through the office, though it didn't wake Yuan at all. Laughing embarrassedly to herself, Colette blushed and looked to the door. Angel or not, she was still a little girl and little girls need snacks when they wake up from naps.

"Hm, I need a treat." Colette smiled to herself, walking to the door. She didn't figure Yuan would even notice if she slipped out for a minute or two to find herself a tasty snack.

"Food, food, where's the kitchen?" She hummed to herself as she strolled to the door, opened it by pressing the button on the side and trotted out into the hall, dead set on finding a snack.

* * *

"And you're sure that's all that happened?" Kate asked as she and the other scientists at the elemental research laboratory worked like clockwork on the samples they had received from Lloyd, Zelos and Sheena. Zelos had been a little less than cooperative since he had to give a hair sample, as well as skin, blood and saliva samples, but he'd eventually complied when Sheena had laughed at him since Lloyd had given them samples with not so much as a complaint.

"Yeah, that's all." Lloyd nodded from where he sat on a nearby crate. He had finished telling all of the researchers what had happened since they had all turned into children, and the reaction was the same no matter which one they told, a mixture of fascination and sheer skepticism.

"Well, that matches up what Sheena said, but people reducing in age and size for no reason at all... that just isn't something I've heard of before." the head researcher added, looking up from his reports from the latest test results.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that." The brunette boy groaned tiredly. "But will you guys be able to find out what did it?"

"I can't promise anything, but we will try." Kate replied, her glasses having fallen askew again. Sighing tiredly, Lloyd flopped against the wall while on his crate and began to fiddle with his new medallion that hung from his neck. The cold metal stung his fingers, but he didn't care. He was too busy taking in all of the defined craftsmanship in the medal.

"Oh, and Sheena, I have something for you." The head researcher paused his work and fished a hand into his pocket. Arching her raven eyebrows, the ninja in red hopped down from her own crate and crossed the room.

"What is it?" She asked curiously, the poof of her spiky black ponytail bouncing as she did. The head half elf pulled out what looked like an icy blue unicorn horn and held it out for the six year old to take. Sheena glanced down at it, blinked and turned her eyes back to the researcher.

"Uh.. thanks.... and this is?" She asked uncertainly as she had no idea what it was that she was holding.

"This is a blue candle." The head researcher stated warmly. "It'll light up any darkness, not matter how thick. You'll need it when you go see Shadow. That's where you are headed next, right?" Sheena peered up at the half elf and suddenly beamed rays of joy.

"Thank you!" She grinned and hugged him around the middle, her raven hair bouncing all over the place in her ponytail. The researcher, taken aback by the sudden show of affection, smiled back and gave her a light hug. Zelos glanced over at them, smirked and looked over at Lloyd, who was now poking his bandage again, as the numb feeling was beginning to wear off.

"Hey, bud, I was thinkin' about something." Zelos yawned from the other crate and stretched. Lloyd looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" The first grader asked, the medal flopped against his chest. Zelos stretched and stared at the ceiling of the lab, his red hair flipped over his shoulders.

"What if.. you were to keep tabs on the old dude?" He suggested offhandedly, peering at Lloyd out of the corner of his eye.

Lloyd blinked.

"Who?"

Zelos stared at him incredulously.

"Who do you think, you dope?" The red headed chosen snorted, resting his hands back behind his head. "Kratos, of course." Lloyd stared at Zelos like his face was being chewed on by monsters and a indignant shriek erupted from the far side of the room.

"What, are you crazy?!" Sheena demanded, sprinting over to Zelos and picking up the chosen by his collar. "Why the hell are you telling Lloyd to go out and track down Kratos?! You want him to get turned into a pile of Lloyd miso?!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on and hear me out first before you kill me!" Zelos brought up his hands in surrender and grinned. "And that's a Lloyd kabob." Snorting, Sheena dropped Zelos on the floor and crossed her arms. Dusting himself off, the miniature chosen flipped his hair out of his face and looked over at Lloyd.

"If you were to keep an eye on him, you'd be able to let us know if Cruxis was gonna do something to Colette or the rest of the world, right?" He suggested wisely. "We'd be one step ahead of them at every turn." Lloyd took in what Zelos said and frowned. As much as the boy didn't want to admit it, he had a point.

"Well.. yeah but-" Lloyd started, but Zelos cut him off with his pink sleeve hooking around the champion's shoulders.

"And you said that Kratos didn't pull anything deadly on you when you were with him, right?" The red headed boy added, his other hand flicking some of Lloyd's spiked hair.

"Yeah, that's right." Lloyd nodded, trying to ignore his hair being flicked. "He didn't do anything. In fact.. he helped me." Zelos grinned and waggled a solitary finger in front of Lloyd's nose.

"Use it to your advantage and find out what you can about what he's up to. You do that, and we'll have the edge on Cruxis. That'd be good, since we're trying to thwart them and all." Zelos gestured to the stairs and then back at Lloyd.

"Plus, if you go one way and we go the other, we'll be able to span out and find the others a hell of a lot quicker. It doesn't have a downside and we'll all be better off if we find everyone as soon as possible."

That got Lloyd's attention. Even though he knew that three of his friends were okay, what about the other four? For all he knew, they could be hurt, hungry, with Cruxis, or even worse. Plus, deep down, Lloyd felt he was to blame for them all getting separated, since the only reason the Renegades had attacked was to get their hands on him. So, finding them was at the top of his priorities. And Zelos had just plucked the right strings to strike a chord with the chestnut haired first grader.

"Okay, I'll do it." Lloyd agreed, his hands on his swords. Despite Sheena's protests of 'What, are you crazy?!' and 'Zelos, if you don't stop him, I'll use you as a punching bag!', the six year old steeled his resolve and stalked to the stairs. However, once he reached the stairs, something dawned on him. Turning his head back to the chosen who was being stomped on by the mini ninja, Lloyd frowned and pointed to the stairs.

"But what if I can't find him and he's already gone?" He asked, just as Sheena stomped hard down on the back of Zelos, who in turn looked like a squished crab that was trying to scuttle away.

"Use this." Zelos scrambled out from Sheena's foot and, reaching into his pocket, pulled out a purple communicator, one that was roughly the size of a peach, and tossed it to his red clad friend. Lloyd caught it and raised his eyebrow at it.

"It's a comlink. You use it and let us know what he's up to, and, on the off chance you can't find him, call us and we'll come get you." Zelos called at him, blocking a kick to the side from Sheena and dodging off to the side. Lloyd nodded and pocketed it in his navy blue shorts.

"Though, don't let him know you found us or he'll get suspicious." The chosen added as he was pulled into a fierce headlock and tried to get away as the irate assassin ground her fist into his cheek. Lloyd laughed at the pair of them and saluted them in farewell.

"Alright, here I go! Thanks for everything, you guys!" He waved to both his friends and the researchers, running up the stone steps as he did. "Wish me luck!"

"Luck, dude, luck! And we'll call you with the results of the test when we get them!" Zelos called, wriggling against Sheena's grasp. Lloyd waved once more at them all and pushed the door with an almighty shove.

"Lloyd!" Sheena yelled, trying to get him to stop, but it was too late. Lloyd was long gone.

Furious at Zelos for convinced Lloyd that tailing one of the Four Seraphim was a good idea, Sheena scowled at the chosen she had in a headlock and frogged him sharply in the right kidney, sending him to the floor in a crumpled heap.

"You're an evil bastard, you know that?" She looked down her nose at Zelos and glared, her arms folded against her flat chest. Zelos, still collapsed on the floor, glanced up at her and laughed cryptically, his eyes half lidded.

"Maybe I am... maybe I am."

* * *

**Mwahah! Another chapter is complete.**

**Lloyd: We split up again. **

**Me: Yep, you did. But that's okay. You're on a new mission, to find Kratos!**

**Lloyd: And when do I get to go look?**

**Me: Oh, I'd say next chapter or so.**

**Lloyd: I don't wanna wait that long to go look for Kratos. What if he leaves while you're writing?**

**Me: ....... *stares at Lloyd incredulously***

**Lloyd: .... what?**

**Me:.... if you're that concerned he'll leave, why don't you go look for him now?**

**Lloyd: That's a good idea! *runs off to go find him***

**Zelos: .. he does know that Kratos won't actually get anywhere until you say so, right?**

**Me: .... let's let him figure that one out on his own.**

**Please review!**


	11. Rocky Recommencement

**Author's Note: **

**Hello once again and welcome to my lair, er, I mean, fic. I was planning on having some long and drawn out speech for the author's note, but it's a bit too late for that and I'm way too tired to try being eloquent. So, I'll make it brief, or as brief as I can with it making an ounce or two of sense.**

**Thanks to all of you who favorited, alerted, read and spun around in circles. Also, ginormous thank yous to Stephy825, freakyanimegal, silent romantic, Destiny's Light, Kiomori, Amekoryuu, Droaerion and Firehedgehog. Thank you all so much for your words of praise and reviewiness. That all made me smile very much. **

**Mya, onto the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, Zelos would get the ability to use Judgment as a normal technique, not just as a cameo attack if you pick a certain ending... which I usually do.**

**Zelos: No love, man. No love.**

**Me: Hey, I believe in chapter's past I stated my perfect ending of not choosing between characters and Yuan's joining of the party at the last segments, thank you very much. Believe it or not, I feel bad about certain events that happen when I pick.**

**Zelos: But you rarely pick the other endings.**

**Me: .... I still do feel bad. **

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Rocky Recommencement

"Where... the hell is he?" Lloyd groaned as he ran out of the ninth building on the far end of the rich row of structures. For the past two hours, Lloyd had searched practically every construct in the Aristocrat's Quarters, from the royal reception hall to the 'Eccentric', or better known as the bat crazy, but with an abhorrent amount of money, 'Lady's house. The first grader had just escaped by means of a window from the clutches of the ancient old biddy, who had tried to make him sit through the ten photo albums of her pet parakeets.

"Who the heck takes ten photo albums worth of birds anyway?" Lloyd hotly asked no one in particular as he dashed down the cobbled walk towards the center square of the aristocrat's end. "A bird is a bird is a bird is a bird. You can either eat it, or you can't. That's a bird."

Snorting to himself, Lloyd stretched out his arms over his head and kicked the dust off his shoes. He'd made it back to the main square just beyond the city stairwell, but there was still no sign of Kratos anywhere. Lloyd sighed dejectedly. Even though he'd scoured most of the Aristocrat's quarters, he hadn't seen hide, nor hair of the angelic swordsman who had escorted him there.

"Why is it.. that every single time I don't want him to show up, he's right there taunting me, but when I DO want to find him, he's nowhere to be found?" The young boy groaned, his arms crossed against his chest. He glanced around for a few more minutes, his cherrywood eyes scanning the entire area, but it was futile. There was no trace of Kratos anywhere. Just as he was getting to dash off again, a wave of exhaustion hit the tiny boy's body and he had to snag a stray lamppost in order to keep himself standing.

'I gotta sit down.' Lloyd blinked harshly to keep his eyes open and spotted a series of marble steps from across where he stood in the upper quarters of the aristocracy's domain. They looked as good a place as any to recuperate and figure out where to check next for the angelic warlord. Pinching his cheek so he would stay awake, Lloyd crossed the main square like his legs were caked in cement and collapsed on the stairs of a gigantic building to the far left. His forehead came to rest upon the palms of his hands and he stared vacantly at the paved streets, his mind racing with theories on where the 'Angel of Death' could be at that moment.

'He wasn't at the reception hall.' Lloyd thought to himself tiredly. 'The guy at the front desk said I was the first person he'd seen all day and there hadn't been anyone else. He also said he would have remembered if there had been.' Since the host at the front desk had looked as though he was going to collapse due to sheer boredom, Lloyd had believed him and left to scout out the other structures.

'I don't think he was that good an actor, so chances were he was telling the truth.' The six year old nodded. 'The middle aged ladies eating cake didn't see anyone, and neither did the guys who were staring at the maids doing laundry.' Even after that though, no one he had talked to had anything helpful or interesting to say. No hints, no leads, not even a stray feather, with of course, the exception of the loony bird lady.

Exhaling sharply again, Lloyd peered up from where he had been in a heated contest with the pavement and gazed up at the robin's egg blue sky that graced the Meltokio area with it's presence. The blazing summer sun drenched the royal capital of Meltokio with beams of light and sweat dripped off of Lloyd's face and down his back, which felt royally disgusting. All that running and searching fruitlessly had worked up his blood temperature and his body was trying to cool itself down as a result. Grimacing at the strength of the heat that cascaded onto his body, he stretched, loosened his scarf around his neck slightly and tugged at the heavy velvet ribbon that held his medal to his chest.

'Maybe I should take this off.' Lloyd thought pensively as his thumb and forefinger grazed over the glossy finish of the medal's surface. Although it was weighing him down somewhat, he had been so proud of his recent victory over in the coliseum, he had been hesitant to remove it. After he eyed it for a minute or two, the young boy sniffed, let the medal slip from his fingers, so it landed back against his chest with a hollow thud, and smiled.

'No, not yet.' He thought, his shoes tapping on the steps below him. 'I don't care if it is a bit flashy.. or heavy.' His medal was proof that he was just as good a fighter as he had been when he was older; that even though he may have looked like a small boy, he was still the same Lloyd underneath.

'I'll take it off later.' The first grader stated firmly and yawned into his fist, the full brunt of his lethargy setting in. He shook his head in an attempt to stave off his oncoming sleepiness, but all that did was make the bandage on his head drift down and cover part of his eyes.

'.. great.' Lloyd grunted and pulled up the linen bandage out of his eyes with his tiny thumbs. Once the bandage was back in place, memories of how Kratos had tended to the abrasion on his forehead arose in his mind and flickered back and forth. Snorting, Lloyd flopped his cheek onto the palm of his hand and sighed sharply.

'He helped me.. but why?' He asked himself. 'It makes no sense. I'm his enemy... aren't I?' Lloyd tried several times to understand, but all he managed to get from brainstorming was a grand heaping pile of nothing and a royal headache. As he continued that train of thinking, another thought drifted into his mind, one that made his internal organs freeze like they had been thrown into a snowbank in Flanoir.

'Maybe he left already.' The miniature swordsman blinked in horror. If that was the case, he was completely left up the creek without even the handle of a paddle. If Kratos had already left the Meltokio area, there was nothing the boy could do to find him. It was difficult enough trying to track the older man when he was his normal size. Now that he was the size of a shrimp, it would be nye impossible.

'Y'know, I'm pretty sure he said he was going to do something up here.' Lloyd mused, his eyebrows creased in a frown. 'He said he had business or something.' Groaning, Lloyd poked himself in the forehead and rested his chin on his palm.

'Why can't I remember?' He sighed. 'I know he said it, but where...' Lloyd's thoughts cut off when a loud series of large clinking sounds emanated through the entire square and echoed throughout. The first grader's head shot up like the crack of a whip and he blanched.

Papal Knights, dozens of them, were headed straight towards him. Whether or not they were specifically targeting him wasn't relevant. All he knew was they were all headed his way and that made the small boy turn an unhealthy shade of gray.

"Uh oh.... that's not good." Lloyd gulped as the papal knights came closer. Even though he was now much smaller than the Lloyd they were searching for, the tiny swordsman wasn't sure that his 'I'm too short' excuse would really be of any help with getting his bacon out of the fire. Sure, it had worked on the announcer, but that guy had more polka dots than brains, so it was a crap shoot at best. Lloyd quickly jumped to his feet, the adrenaline completely wiping the lethargy from his body. He didn't have time to think, just act. Wheeling around, Lloyd bolted up the steps he had been sitting upon and wrenched open the doors at the top of the stairwell. Once the weighty doors finally budged, the small boy ran inside and, using his full body, slammed the doors back into place. At the sound of the doors locking into position, Lloyd exhaled exhaustedly and rested his bandaged forehead against the oaken doors, the rest of his body following suit.

"Whew... that was close." Lloyd let out a breath of relief and readjusted his scarf so both of the tails were once again over his shoulders. Nodding to no one in particular, Lloyd pivoted on his heel and his lungs froze mid breath as he realized exactly where he was.

'... oh, crud.'

In his desperate attempt to escape from the sights of the Papal Knights, Lloyd had inadvertently run into the entryway of the Meltokio Martel Cathedral. Standing in the hall like Noishe who spotted a particularly nasty looking monster, Lloyd swallowed hard and scanned the huge entry hall of the church. With the exception of a large gaggle of fancy looking women who were all huddled parallel of the rectory door, there was nary a soul inside the church.

'Good.. no sign of either the papal knights or the Pope.' He breathed a sigh of happiness and rested his fists on his hips. He'd managed to dodge yet another bullet, so as a result, newfound enthusiasm crept onto his face and shone in his eyes as he stood there. As reveled in his insanely good luck, that's when it hit him.

The church. Kratos had business with the church. That was it. Lloyd beamed at himself for finally remembering what the angel had mentioned before, but his smile quickly faded when he glanced around for the seraph, yet was met with nothing.

"He's supposed to be here but I don't see him any-"

"There he is!" One of the women squealed as the door to the rectory creaked open and one Kratos Aurion strode out of the compact room, tucking what looked like the ends of a pile of wood into the small wing pack on the side of his belt. Lloyd, thrilled that he finally found Kratos, tried to get closer, but one of the full skirts slammed into his side and threw him into one of the bench aisles.

"Ouch.. dammit that hurt..." The first grader groaned, latching his hand onto the rim of the pew and pulling himself to his feet. Apparently, that skirt wasn't full just because of a crinoline. Although the tiny boy had been lobbed into a pew via a serious set of thighs, none of the women seemed to have noticed. They were far too busy giggling like a bunch of inane school girls over the seraphim's sudden presence.

"Ooh, isn't he just gorgeous?" Another woman murmured as the flock huddled together. Lloyd raised an eyebrow, watching them with curiosity.

"I'd just love to take him home, mmhm." A third, with a hair piece that looked like she had mauled the awning outside of the item shop for it's fabric, added.

"Just look at his face, I bet he's got loads of experience!" The fourth, with an odd array of swirls in her hair that made Lloyd think of whirlpools, piped.

'Wow, they're weird.' Lloyd scrunched up his boyish nose at all of the women and snorted. However, the word 'experience' caught Lloyd off guard and he glanced at them all with confusion and suspicion, his tapered eyebrow caulked upward underneath his head bandage.

'What? ... what are they talking about?' The first grader asked himself as he looked them all over. Suddenly, a feeling of sheer disgust washed over him and he lurched over, gripping the pew for support.

'...Wait... they aren't talking about-'

"The way he's standing there, acting like he has far better things to do!" The third squealed girlishly, giggling as she did so. "That's so attractive!"

'... they are. Good night Martel, they are!' Lloyd's face contorted in horror and his legs cemented to the floor, unable to move, talk or even think straight. The women, however, didn't notice Lloyd's presence at all from behind the pew and continued their ogling.

"The way his hair covers up the side of his face, like he's all mysterious and stuff." The first woman added, her cheeks growing red with excitement as her eyes lingered on the seraph across the room. "I bet he's a really good kisser."

"And not just his face, the rest of him is pretty nice to look at too." The second cooed, fanning her face with a lacy pink fan. "Too bad there are so many clothes in the way of that view."

Once Lloyd finally regained the use of his vocal chords, he said the first mature and brilliant thing that popped into his mind.

"... Eww."

"Okay girls, corner him before he gets away!"

Lloyd shook out of his stupor just in time to see the flock of women descend upon the unknowing seraph, who was still tucking the last pieces of wood into his pack, and circled him like a pack of rabid, fluffy and overly colorful hyenas. Glancing up from his pouch at his hip, the angelic swordsman noticed that he was surrounded and raised an eyebrow in response.

".. can I help you?" He asked, his deep baritone voice resonating through the silent church. The women all looked to each other, broke into a fit of giggles and turned back to him.

"Ooh, yes you can, hunny." The first lady winked and stuck her hip to the side. "You can help me all you want."

Kratos frowned and watched them all, eyebrow still raised.

"... excuse me?"

"Oh no you don't. You got the last one, this one's mine." The second woman smacked the first with her fan. Almost immediately, the two women began to bicker amongst themselves, which led the other two to start leaning in. Instinctively, Kratos took a step back away from the pair, though all that did was encourage the two painted up women to follow him, fire in their eyes.

'What are they doing?' Lloyd blenched in horror as the two women backed Kratos into a corner, leering at him with all they were worth. He'd never seen Kratos quite like that. Usually when he was cornered, he had always been the picture of tranquility. However, this time a hint of frustration graced the corners of his face, though it hadn't completely broken his emotionless mask.

'It's because he can't fight them like a normal battle, I guess.' Lloyd justified as he crawled out from under the pew. 'That's probably why he looks so annoyed.'

Lloyd observed them for a moment, as both women who weren't arguing amongst themselves had cut off Kratos' path to the exit. The boy frowned. Judging from the way Kratos glanced at the entryway, he was planning to make a break for the oaken doors the second he got a chance. If he did escape, Lloyd didn't figure his little legs would be able to catch or even keep up with Kratos. He was a lot taller than Lloyd for one, and he was an angel as well, so his stamina wouldn't fail him like Lloyd's would if the boy chased after him.

'If he runs off, I won't be able to get him to take me with him. I'd better let him know that I'm here.' The boy added, strolling down the isle towards the squabbling women and the ensnared angel against the stone wall.

Meanwhile, one of the women had gotten a bit too close to the angelic swordsman and had covertly copped a feel. Very irritated that he was backed against the wall, yet could not retaliate against them, and had been violated, the seraph sharply batted her hand away and folded his arms against his chest.

"I would prefer you keep your hands to yourself." Kratos stated curtly, his voice edging on dangerous as he stared both of the frilly women down. However, they didn't back off or even seem to be phased. If anything, they were more inclined as ever to get closer to him.

"Ooh, feisty. I like that in a man." The lady with the swirly hair purred, her voice drenched in saccharine as she inched closer. "I bet you're feisty with everything that you do." She took a step forward, her eyes scanning him from top to bottom and she winked.

"And I mean.. _everything_."

The fire behind Kratos' eyes flared, the cherry coloring in his irises shifting bright crimson with anger.

".. are you propositioning me?"

"Maybe, if that's what you wanna call it-"

"Kratos!"

All five gazes shifted sharply to the sound of the voice as the former teenager turned first grader bounced forward and grinned at the seraphim brightly.

"There you are." Lloyd beamed in greeting, the tails of his white scarf bouncing as he swayed from side to side. "I've been looking all over for you, y'know."

"Lloyd?" Kratos raised an eyebrow in surprise. The first grader nodded and stretched, so much so that the bandage had drifted into his eyes again and covered one eye like a white curtain. Groaning at the linen strip, Lloyd hooked a thumb under the bandage and laughed when he peeked at Kratos from under it, as he found the rare dumbfounded expression on the older man's face absolutely hilarious.

"Happy to see me?" Lloyd asked, once the bandage was back in place. The older man didn't reply, but from the relieved look in his eyes, Lloyd gathered that he wasn't completely unhappy that he had shown up.

However, the gaggle of ladies were less than thrilled.

"A kid?" The woman with the pink fan gasped, taking a step back. The first woman groaned and ran her hand through her gaudy hairstyle.

"Aw, that's such a letdown." She sighed. "And here we were all gonna have so much fun." At the woman's remark, Kratos glared at her, which led Lloyd to believe that whatever she had planned that would be 'fun' was not going to happen in her lifetime.

"Stinkin' kid." the fourth snorted unhappily, pushing part of her sleeve back onto her shoulder, as she had let it hang below her shoulders for some reason.

"Why is there always a kid?" The swirly haired trollop whined bitterly and retreated back to her pack of ravenous snakes. The shrunken swordsman looked over at the group of hyenas and then turned back to Kratos, his face riddled with confusion.

"Wait... huh?" Lloyd blinked and glanced at the women again, who were scowling hatefully at him and then back to Kratos.

"What'd I do?" He asked. Kratos didn't reply. Instead, he stepped in front of Lloyd and folded his arms against his chest, staring all of the women down with his signature 'death glare'.

Scowling venomously at the small boy, the women all gazed longingly back at Kratos, who merely gave them all dirty looks in response. Sighing in a collective 'hmph', they stuck their noses in the air and strode haughtily to the front doors and exited, their egos thoroughly wounded.

Lloyd watched them all stalk out the door in a huff and turned back to Kratos, his eyebrows raised.

"What's their problem?" He asked, obviously still confused. He didn't think he'd done anything to really make them all that upset. All he had done was say 'hi' to the seraphim. He didn't think that really merited stomping off like their new toy had been taken away.

Kratos didn't respond. He continued to watch the door, his eyes narrowed into slits, just in case any of the vultures decided to go for a second round.

"... I don't know." He eventually replied curtly. Lloyd peered over at the door and snorted disdainfully.

"Huh. What a bunch of weird trout." Lloyd stretched his arms over his head and folded them behind his head so his fingers interlocked with each other, the back of his skull resting in his palms. It was so odd that they all dispersed like that. The small boy rubbed his nose with his sleeve and shook his head. Maybe people got a little cuckoo when they reached their ages, he didn't know.

"Lloyd.. thank you." Lloyd was shaken out of his thoughts by the older man's voice and he peered at Kratos, who had not taken his gaze away from the doors.

"Huh?" The six year old gave him a quizzical expression. "What for?" Kratos glanced down at the boy briefly before he returned his eyes to the oaken barrier to the outside.

"Your presence diverted their attention, and for that you have my thanks." He responded simply.

"Oh." Lloyd blinked. "Uh, you're welcome, I guess." Scratching the side of his head, Lloyd restlessly bounced from side to side as a blanket of tranquility settled over the empty church hall.

The silence seemed to be there for nothing short of an eternity, until it was broken by the sound of a clearing throat.

"Lloyd, what are you doing here?" The angelic being finally asked, observing Lloyd from the corner of his eye.

Lloyd's throat ran dry. He'd been expecting this moment to come, though dreading it would have probably been more accurate. He had to think of a story, a story that would be simplistic enough to be the truth, yet complicated enough for him to skate by with little questions asked.

Making up the story wasn't the really difficult part. In all actuality, making up a story would probably be rather the least of his worries.

The trick was getting Kratos to believe it.

'Start off slowly and work your way up.' His voice echoed in his head encouragingly. Steeling himself, Lloyd straightened out his shoulders and pivoted so his whole body faced Kratos.

"I was trying to find you." Lloyd replied. If he started out with the truth, chances were very good he could slip a lie or two in between the cracks here and there and hopefully Kratos wouldn't notice, 'hopefully' being the keyword.

"And why were you attempting to locate me?" The seraph asked, his eyebrow in an arc. "Aren't your friends your primary objective?" The tiny boy sniffed and rubbed his nose again.

'Play it cool.. like a rock... cool like a rock.'

"They are!" Lloyd interjected hotly. "But I couldn't find them."

'That.. could have been cooler.' He grimaced internally, though he fought to keep it from showing on his face. Kratos continued to eye Lloyd skeptically, his hand instinctively at the hilt of his sword.

"Oh?" The angelic being asked, disbelief hinting his tone. The tiny boy nodded and continued on.

"Yeah. they weren't here." He stated firmly. "I looked and everything, but since I didn't find them, I came back here to find you."

Kratos regarded Lloyd stiffly, his arms folded against his chest.

"You looked and didn't find them, so you came straight back." He repeated.

"Yeah." Lloyd nodded.

"And that's all you did."

"Yeah."

"Oh, really?" Kratos raised an eyebrow at the boy and gave him a flat look. "Then where did you get those swords and that medal?"

Lloyd froze. In all of the confusion and the gaggle of bizarre women, he'd forgotten all about his medal and new swords that hung at his sides.

'Make up a story quick, Bud!' Zelos' voice chorused through his mind. That was exactly what he had to do. He had to make something up and quick.

"Uh... I bought them." The six year old replied lamely, scratched the side of his head with his left hand. Kratos didn't relinquish his gaze. If anything, it intensified.

"With what?"

"Er.. money in the street that I found."

Silence filled the church again.

'....... you really need to work on your lying skills there, Bud.'

Lloyd pressed his two index fingers together, not wanting to look up at Kratos, who was probably still giving him the scrutinizing stare. Although he couldn't see, the tiny boy could just feel the waves of disapproval emanating from the man in front of him. All he could do now was hope that by some off chance, Kratos had had a lapse of judgment and actually believed his laughable story.

'Please buy it, please buy it...' Lloyd prayed as he peeked up from his fingers at Kratos.

Judging by the raised eyebrow and deadpan expression, Kratos wasn't buying it. Instead of purchasing the makeshift story that the boy had made, he folded his arms against his chest and gave Lloyd a scrutinizing eye that would have made any kindergarden teacher proud.

"Lloyd, how did you really obtain those swords and that medal?" He asked, his voice flat as a board. Lloyd's heart sank into his stomach and he swallowed hard. The last thing he wanted to do was to actually admit that he had run into two of his friends and completely blow his cover in the process. To put it mildly, that wouldn't sit well with both the seraph and the two other children he'd found.

"Uh... well..." Lloyd fidgeted with his sleeves and glanced up sheepishly at Kratos again. Letting out a sigh, the tiny boy mussed the strand of his hair that always fell in front of his face. There was no point in trying to make up another lie. He'd been caught outright.

"... I.. I went to the coliseum." He finally admitted, and almost immediately his head shot up and stared at Kratos with unwavering righteousness. "But I had a good reason for going in there! There was this lady, she helped me out when we were stuck in the Sybak Academy's basement, and they were gonna kill her just because of that. She didn't stand a chance because she's a half elf and I heard they execute half elves without a second thought." Lloyd's hands clenched into fists and he glared at the ground.

"I couldn't just leave her there to die." He added tensely. "That's not right." Completely riled up by his idealism, Lloyd failed to note the expression of complete and total incredulity that flashed upon Kratos' face. It was fairly obvious by his countenance that while he had expected something weird, that had certainly never crossed his mind. However, by the time the boy glanced up, the seraphim had successfully masked it with his taciturn nature.

".. you went to the coliseum." He stated flatly in confirmation.

"Huh? Uh.. yeah." Lloyd sheepishly nodded, looking off to the side as he did.

"And you fought."

"Yeah."

"And you won."

"Yep." Lloyd grinned broadly and held up the golden medal for Kratos to see better. "They didn't treat me like I was serious and that's when they got their butts kicked." The seraphim observed the outstretched metallic medallion and gently took it from Lloyd's hand, the gold shine glinting in both pairs of eyes. He briefly examined the craftsmanship of the coliseum medal and turned it over before he let it slip from his fingers, so it hung limply from Lloyd's neck once more.

".. Ah." Kratos replied curtly.

"'Ah'?" Lloyd repeated, his quizzical expression once again adorning his face. "Is that a bad thing?" Kratos sighed and shook his head once.

"No. Just surprising." he responded simply. The six year old blinked and scrunched up his nose in indignation.

"Wha- why's it surprising?" Lloyd demanded, his hair spiking further in irritation. The angelic swordsman glanced down at Lloyd, let out a tired exhale and returned his gaze to the door.

"As of right now, you do not have the appearance of one who would best the fighters in the coliseum." Kratos explained offhandedly, his left hand returned its proper place on the hilt of his sword. "To be completely frank, you look more like you were about to go play the recorder in music class."

Lloyd snorted at the 'recorder' comment and folded his arms, glowering at the angelic swordsman. Even though Lloyd was glowering with all he could muster, Kratos didn't seem to be phased by the cross expression whatsoever. He never did. Glancing over at the irked boy, the angel closed his eyes and folded his arms against his chest.

"Did you find your friends?" Kratos asked again, his expression cool and calculated like a frost in January. Lloyd jumped in surprise to being addressed suddenly and stared at Kratos, his mind blank.

"Uh.." Lloyd's mind froze and he blanched, trying to kick start his thoughts with all he had.

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"No, no I didn't." Lloyd shook his head quickly, not wanting to get himself into any more hot water. The angel lord regarded Lloyd momentarily before he began his descent down the steps of the altar and towards the door. Dreading that Kratos was going to leave without him and thus ruin the plan he had, Lloyd trailed after him, his miniscule shoes tapping across the floor. Kratos seemed to notice that the boy was following after him because his pace was considerably slower than Lloyd remembered.

"I see. Then what do you plan to do?" The older man inquired, his eyes still on the path to the door.

This was it. The moment that would determine whether or not Lloyd would be able to keep an eye on Cruxis and prevent them from hurting his friends while he searched for them. Gathering up all the fortitude he had, Lloyd steeled his nerve and inhaled deeply.

"Actually, I was kinda hoping I could come with you." He spouted as seriously and powerfully as he could in his boyish voice.

It must have worked, because Kratos stopped on a dime and shifted his attention to Lloyd completely, both of his eyebrows raised.

".. what?" The seraphim asked, his tone suggesting that he wasn't sure he had heard Lloyd properly. Anxiety welling up inside his chest, Lloyd took in another sharp inhale and locked his cherrywood eyes with Kratos'.

"I haven't found my friends yet and I don't want to stay in this city by myself. Can I come with you?" Lloyd poked his two index fingers together again and frowned when both of the tips of his fingers curved upwards. Kratos remained silent, not moving a muscle, and Lloyd's throat ran dry like a desert. Silence usually meant that the answer was 'no' or it meant a brief consideration, which was then followed by 'no'.

His fortitude and nerve was slowly ebbing away, only to be replaced with uneasiness and worry. The petite boy fidgeted under the awkward tranquility and pulled at his bandage with a stray hand.

"So.. uh.. can I?" Lloyd asked again, observing the seraph in front of him with the hopes that he would grant him permission, preferably without any more questions. Kratos scrutinized Lloyd for a good three minutes before he let out a shallow breath and turned his back to the boy.

"I don't suppose I have any objections." He finally replied curtly. "You may do as you wish." Beaming, Lloyd almost bounced with joy over his plan not being squished before it began to fight and readjusted the medal that hung precariously around his neck.

"That's great!" The former teenager glowed and ambled over to Kratos. He was thrilled that he was going to be able to follow the seraphim around and keep an eye on what he was doing. Maybe then he'd be able to figure out what the heck the older man was talking about most of the time, instead of getting annoyed at his cryptic statements. After all, keep enemies close and friends closer, right?

'No, it's the other way around.' the mental voice of the Professor chastised. Snorting in irritation at his own thoughts lecturing him, Lloyd flipped his scarves over his shoulders and proceeded to march alongside the angelic swordsman, three steps of his own for every one of Kratos'. Kratos didn't pay much in the way of attention to Lloyd's cadence, for what Lloyd could tell, but he pushed open the substantial doors with the ease that Lloyd would have picked up a feather. Just how strong was Kratos anyway? Casting that thought aside for the time being, Lloyd stretched and peered at Kratos with a sideways glance.

"Where are we going now?" He asked inquisitively, the stray strand of hair billowing in the breeze that had flooded in from the outside world.

"I intend to go to Sybak next." the stoic swordsman responded quietly as he held it back so Lloyd could go through. Getting the hint, the six year old rushed out off the church and onto the veranda outside.

"That's a good idea." Lloyd agreed, shoving his fists into the pockets of his shorts and taking in the fresh air. "Maybe my friends are there." Kratos let the door fall back into place and strode into the middle of the aristocrat's square, Lloyd right behind him.

"Maybe." He stated indifferently when he pivoted and began to walk down the steps that led down to the city gates. Lloyd followed suit, his new swords clinking at his sides and then he remembered something. Something that had been tugging at his brain for the good part of twenty minutes.

"Hey Kratos, why were all those ladies circling you like a bunch of vultures?" The first grader asked perplexedly as he trotted next to the older swordsman, his bandaged head tilted slightly to the side. "And what does 'propositioning' mean?"

Kratos was silent and continued to descend the steps, his face emotionless and impossible to read as ever.

".... I don't want to talk about it, Lloyd."

* * *

Sheena fumed, her face red as a beet and perhaps even redder than her outfit. Slowly and with all the ferocity of a peeved tiger, she peered up at the boy who watched her from the tippy top of a tall piece of furniture, waving at her smugly as he sat. Her hands curled into fists at his all too pleased reaction and she threateningly shook her fist at the chosen, just dying to use it on him.

"Zelos, get down here so I can pound you!" Sheena demanded, her fists clenched tightly together to the point that her nails were indenting into her palms. Zelos, who had taken refuge on top of the tallest filing cabinet in the Elemental Research Laboratory, shook his head, the smug grin still on his face, and flopped down onto his stomach so it rested against the cold metal surface of the dust ridden cabinet.

After Lloyd had departed on his mission to locate and trail after Kratos, Sheena had been in quite the state, which involved fretting over what was going to happen to Lloyd, worrying about the others and where they were, prying into the research results of their tests and personally promising that she would make sure that Zelos' voice NEVER returned to the deepness he had before. Grimacing at the thought of never being able to woo hunnies without a sultry voice due to a lack of puberty, the bitty chosen stretched out along the cabinet and crossed his legs behind his back so they hovered over his hamstrings. He then folded his arms in a cross and flopped his head to the side, yawning as if he was going to indulge in a well deserved, in his opinion, nap. After all, Lloyd didn't exactly weigh nothing. In fact, he probably weighed the complete opposite of nothing.

'It's decided. His new nickname is 'Brick Boy'.' Zelos yawned, gingerly rubbing his shoulder with a free hand, as Lloyd had used it as a stepping stool while getting the lock on the dungeon door open.

While he had initially been downright terrified of Sheena's rampage, he hadn't been so impressed since he had acquired a new perch that she could not reach. It was somewhat like the lion in the Meltokio Zoo. While it was probably strong enough to take a person's head off, from a safe distance where the lion couldn't reach, all it did was look annoyed as it paced back and forth, glancing up to see if it's target was in reach yet.

'Huh.. ironic.' Zelos mused as his eyes shifted back and forth as Sheena stalked around the cabinet like said lion. 'She's even doing the pacing thing too.'

"Mm, no I'm good, thanks." the red headed chosen yawned as he stretched out along the top of the cabinet. "I don't think it would be in my best interest if I mosied over there for a good chat. Because knowing you, I'd end up on the other side of the room in the wall."

Yawning again, Zelos stretched again and eyed the irate assassin.

"Besides, it's not like I did anything wrong." He added loftily, fiery hair in his eyes. "You don't need to get your underwear in a twist. I didn't do anything bad."

"Like fun you didn't!" The minute ninja shrieked, landing a sharp hit on the cabinet with her foot in an attempt to knock Zelos loose. "Now Lloyd's gonna get killed or even worse!" Atop the filing system, the shrunken Chosen blinked and stared at Sheena, his face perplexed.

"What might that be, O wise and cranky one?" He asked, crimson eyebrow raised as he rested his right cheek in the palm of his hand. Sheena paused and her slender eyebrows scrunched into a frown. She hadn't honestly thought of the details over what they could do to someone of Lloyd's size and stature.

"Well there's lots... um.. that doesn't matter! What DOES matter is that now he's gonna find Kratos and then he'll be in real deep water!" Sheena snapped, not admitting that she hadn't thought of a concrete example of how Lloyd would be in trouble. Regardless of her lack of an imagination, she knew it would be bad and that was enough for her to justifiably kick Zelos' behind onto his shoulders.

Zelos didn't seem too phased. Sheena couldn't reach him and that was all he really cared about right then.

"I know you think that, but I gotta tell you. Bud's probably better off with the old fart right now." he responded offhandedly, batting at the air with his hand so some dust flitted back and forth. Pausing, Sheena peered up at the sluggish second grader and stared at him quizzically.

"What do you mean?" She asked, hints of curiosity lingering in her voice. Smiling cryptically, the red headed chosen gazed down at her from his perch and held out his left index finger.

"I mean, the Renegades are after him and all that, right? If he's with Kratos, the almighty angel who could smite them all by looking at them funny, they won't pull anything." Zelos explained coolly. "And for some reason that we don't know, Kratos has his own reasons for not squishing Bud right off the get go, so we might as well roll with it and use it to our advantage. Renegades won't try anything and we get the lowdown on Cruxis. There's no downside."

While Zelos had been cavalier in his description of his thoughts, it was only partially true. He knew perfectly well why Kratos was so vested in Lloyd's welfare, due to what he'd gathered from mini Mithos and Pronyma, not to mention all of what Yuan had said, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell Sheena, or anyone else for that matter, the truth. That was one can of worms he was NOT going to be the one to unleash. Someone else could do that, thank you very much.

"So, I did Bud a big time favor, wouldn't you say?" He winked at the dumbfounded ninja on the floor below, reveling in her gaping expression. She quickly noticed his smirk and

folding her arms against her chest, looked off to the side, snorting as she did.

"Well... I guess that's right." Sheena grunted, highly unhappy she had to actually agree with the stupid chosen who might not be so stupid after all.

"So.. perhaps you might have a.. a point." She relented apprehensively, not able to look Zelos in the eye. Noticing her sudden silence, Zelos popped down from his safe perch and sauntered over to her, a smug grin plastered on his seven year old face again. Reminiscent of his older self, Zelos snaked a pink sleeved arm around Sheena's shoulders and pulled her close in a smooth motion, which in turn made Sheena freeze.

"Now what do you say?" Zelos prompted. "I think a 'Thank you, Zelos for your wonderful insight and wise plan, which I highly admire and appreciate! Now, let me shower you with my endless love-'"

Zelos' plan of grandeur was thrown off course when Sheena's fist collided with the side of his face.

"Don't even think that's happening." The miniature shinobi growled, her fist still grinding into the side of the chosen's skull. "I'm still mad at you." Letting him drop to the stone surface of the lab's floor, she kicked him for good measure and yawned. Sheena then, after carefully stepping over the twitching puddle of Zelos on the floor, meandered over to the half elf researchers and peered into their research.

"How goes the research?" She asked, her black puff of a ponytail swishing from side to side. Kate glanced over at her, sighed and went back at her work.

"It's taking much longer than I anticipated." she reported. "The findings make little to no sense and thus they require further study." The little girl at her side huffed tiredly, her spiky raven hair drifting into her eyes.

"Urgh, that stinks." Sheena's shoulders drooped and she flicked part of her bangs out of her face. "And you don't have a clue when it'll be done?"

"I do not know an exact time frame, but it will be a while." Kate replied, pouring some of Lloyd's blood sample into a test tube and shaking it to merge it with the congealed yellow gel at the bottom." Perhaps it would be wise for the pair of you to accomplish another task in the meantime." Frowning, Sheena stared at the floor and closed her eyes, trying to think.

"Huh, something else to do.... something to do..." The miniscule summoner thought for a moment or two, her fist tight against her chin. "We were gonna see if we could visit Shadow next to get his pact, but-"

"Actually, that might not be a bad idea." Kate interrupted as she set Lloyd's blood sample in the centrifuge next to her station. "By the time you go see Shadow and forge the pact with him, we should probably be done with all of the tests by then."

"Alright then." Sheena nodded jubilantly and turned to Zelos, who had just then peeled himself off the floor. "Zelos, let's go see Shadow!"

Zelos stared at her like he'd been told that she was going to launch him off the roof via catapult.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on. Don't we need back up?" He pointed out quickly in an attempt to sway her. "We need help with that kinda thing and-"

"That isn't really an option right now." Sheena cut him off, waving her hand back and forth in a dismissive manner. "We have no idea where they all are and time's something we don't have. Besides, Gnome said that Mithos did it all on his own, so I want to prove I can too." After she'd made pacts with a good portion of the summon spirits, Sheena's once intense phobia of pact making had disappeared and in its stead grew an ambitious passion for bettering herself each and every time.

Unfortunately, Zelos did not share her enthusiasm.

"What about the sorcerer's ring?" The chosen pointed out hopefully. "Doesn't Bud have the ring? Can't get through the temple without the ring-"

"Lloyd doesn't have the ring. He gave it to me before he left." Sheena dove a hand into her pocket and pulled out the shiny sorcerer's ring. "See, no problem there."

Zelos felt his heart sink into his stomach and do the backstroke.

'Thanks a lot Bud. Remind me to put tomatoes in your cereal.' He growled and shook himself from his thoughts again.

"That's great and all, but-" Zelos looked longingly off to the side and sighed dramatically. Sheena raised an eyebrow.

"But what?" She asked. Zelos gave her a pining gaze and whimpered piteously.

"My hunnies.. they miss me."

The vein in Sheena's forehead throbbed dangerously and her cheek twitched.

"WHAT?" She bellowed, making everyone in the room cringe in pain. "Oh, no you don't. You can mess around with those floozies later. We have work to do!" Snagging Zelos by the ear, the tiny summoner yanked the chosen up the stairs, the red head dragging his heels every step of the way.

"But I wanna see my hunnies-" He complained, but that only made Sheena's grip tighter, her slender fingers digging into his ear.

"Hussies later, pact now!"

"It's 'Hunnies', not 'Hussies'."

"Same thing!"

* * *

Humming a cheery tune about the weather to herself, Colette sauntered down the desolate halls of the renegade base, a spring in her step as she went. She was so thrilled that she had new clothes that didn't try to attack her whenever she moved that she jubilantly skipped in a steady cadence, her new soft shoes clacking on the polished floor. However, when she reached the large circular room in the center of the Renegade's Flanoir base, the blonde chosen paused and peered around. Even though she had barely set foot outside of the hall where Yuan's office laid, Colette found that she had inadvertently gotten lost, and it only took her three minutes. That was a new record.

"Huh.. where do I go now?" She asked herself aloud as she rotated in a slow circle. "I've never been to this Renegade base before and I don't know where the kitchen is." While she had been the other base in Triet, Colette had never frequented the kitchen, so any plans on a hint with the similar layout of the new and unknown base were completely shot. Sighing, her slender eyebrows curved downward into a rare frown and she began to think, her belled sleeves crossed against her flat chest.

Suddenly, a brilliant, in her mind, idea soared into her mind and trilled with delight.

"Oh, I know. I'll ask for directions." Colette landed her miniscule fist into her hand and grinned at herself. Craning her neck upwards, the little girl scanned the room for any sign of a viable source of navigating the base. Her eyes eventually landed on two soldiers, who looked to be in a heated conversation about something very important.

"They look nice. I'll ask them." She smiled and toddled over to where the two sentries, who, judging by the youthfulness of their voices, were brand new recruits in their early twenties.

"I'm telling you, Celsius is the best looking summon spirit and that's all there is to it." The first one spouted crankily, which in turned caused the second to snort.

"You're crazy. You saw that pinup of Luna, don't tell me you didn't like looking at her curves-"

"Um, excuse me." A hand reached up and snagged the pant leg of the first soldier, tugging at the folds of fabric gently. Pausing, both soldiers stared down at the five year old girl and gaped, as the secret and covert operational base was probably the last

place they had imagined they would see a little cherub of a girl smiling at them.

"Uh.. yeah?" The soldier who had been siding with Luna as the prettiest spirit asked, while the other continued to gawk at her. Colette, too sweet to notice she was being stared at, swayed from side to side, her blonde hair flowing along with her.

"Could you tell me where the kitchen is?" She asked politely. "I'm kinda hungry and I was wondering if I could get a snack." Both soldiers stared at each other and the first one gingerly hooked his thumb towards the hall on the far left side of the main circular dome.

"It's.. er.. that way." The renegade pointed to the metallic hallway. "Second door on the right."

"Thank you so much!" Beaming, Colette hugged his leg as an added thank you and trotted off towards where he indicated. As she left, both of the renegade soldiers watched her go, their jaws thoroughly dropped and their argument over spirits long forgotten.

".. Is it just me, or is this job getting weirder?" The second peered down the corridor that Colette had disappeared into and glanced back at his comrade in arms.

"It's not just you."

* * *

Once Colette reached the door the very nice and helpful soldiers, she brought up her miniscule hand to the door and rapped on it smartly twice. The knocks echoed through the hallway, which were then followed by the same eerie silence as before. However, the silence was swiftly broken when a set of stomping feet thundered from the other side of the door and made the whole area shake.

The door opened to reveal a very plump woman with pointed ears, granny glasses that were perched on her nose and orange hair pulled up in a bun. She wore the same colors as the other renegades, but her outfit was much more lax in style and the whole thing was smothered in a worn, yet crisp white apron.

"I told ya, there's no snacking and I don't care if you boys eat your own shoes first, you aren't getting-" Frowning as she didn't see any young recruits panning for handouts, she readjusted her glasses and looked down at the small girl in front of her. Instantly, her demeanor shifted from cranky to warm and fuzzy in a heartbeat.

"Hello there, and what have we here?" She asked, her eyes turning upwards in a smile at Colette. The bitty chosen blinked and smiled back at her joyfully.

"Hi, I'm Colette." She introduced herself, doing a little curtsy. "I'm staying here for a while to keep an eye on Mister Yuan. It's really nice to meet you."

At the 'keeping an eye on 'Mister Yuan' comment, the cook's face turned bright pink and she instantly had the urge to coo at her. 'Mister Yuan'. How cute was she? She couldn't wait until the girls in the weapons room heard about this.

"Well, hello there, Colette." Her eyes misting at the five year old. "And what can I help you with today?"

"Um.. would it be okay if I had a snack?" She asked, twisting her foot back and forth in place. "You said there wasn't any snacking but..."

"Oh, that? That was just for those peckish boys who keep sneaking in here wanting to stuff their faces." The cook replied, her plump hands curled onto her hips. "Goes right through them and just wastes the food." She beamed at Colette and gently tapped her own nose with a flick of her thumb.

"But for you, name it, hun." She offered and bowed to the side so Colette could enter the kitchen. Matching her warm smile, the little vessel to be wandered into the room and froze. Pastries, dishes and foods that Colette had never seen before rested on the tables and piled towards the ceiling, each one more complex than the last. Gazing in awe at them all, a dish filled with scones caught her eye and made the teeny chosen's stomach growl.

"Could I have a scone?" She asked, pointing to the scones, a strawberry one in particular. The cook, still overwrought with the new and petite addition to the base, seamlessly strode over to the tray, plucked up the scone and held it out for her.

"Sure thing." The rotund woman responded as she offered the treat to Colette.

"Thank you." Colette replied politely as she took the scone and bit into the top corner. It was delicious, nothing like she'd tasted before. Sweet and sticky, yet light and fluffy like a cloud. The closest thing to the scone had been Genis' cookies, but he rarely made them outside of special occasions and he only knew the one recipe. The cook eyed her for a moment as she reveled in the scone and returned her hands to the sides of her hips.

"Anything else?"

Colette stared thoughtfully at the floor, still slowly munching on her newfound snack. After a minute, her sapphire eyes shifted from the floor to the cook and she tilted her head at an angle.

"... what does Mister Yuan like?" She inquire curiously, crumbs of scone adorning her cheeks.

The cook, who had preoccupied herself with some sweeping, paused and peered up from her work at the little girl and her scone.

"Hm?" The head chef asked, her hands still wrapped around the wooden broom handle.

"He's been so busy lately and I didn't see him eat anything, so maybe he'll be hungry when he wakes up." Colette explained cheerily. "So I want to get him a snack." She took another bite out of her scone and beamed at the cook's perplexed expression.

"He's napping at his desk right now." She added, picking out a piece of strawberry with her fingers and popping it into her mouth. Deciding she didn't think she needed to know, the middle aged half elf leaned on her broom, rifling through her thoughts for any pastry ideas that the Renegade Commander might fancy.

"Hm.. he has always seemed to like pie." She commented offhandedly. Colette's head shot up and she bounced like a performing seal who was being tempted with a fish.

"Is there a flavor he likes best?" The chosen pried hopefully.

"Apple's his favorite, I think."

"Would that be okay if I got him a pie then?" Colette asked hopefully, her eyes shining. The cook glanced down at the five year old, smiled warmly at her and patted her head twice.

"Sure thing, hun. Now sit tight and I'll get you that pie." the cook patted the stool next to Colette and went into the far side of the kitchen, gathering up her pie tools and ingredients. Nodding, Colette scrambled onto the stool and she snacked on the strawberry scone she'd gotten as a treat, waiting patiently for Yuan's surprise snack to be ready.

* * *

Yuan blinked an eye open and sat up from his desk, his face feeling like he had been pummeled with the broadside of a shovel.

'Wha.. what happened?' He asked himself groggily as he held his head in his hands. 'Did I... I must have fallen asleep.' It had been a while since he had dozed off, perhaps a week or two, and he hadn't realized how much his body had needed to shut down in a brief and well deserved reprieve. While his headache was mostly gone with the assistance of the siesta, his eyelids were still lead heavy and the angelic commander had to fight intensely to stop his brain from going into Round Two of his nap.

Before Yuan had the chance to fully register that Colette was no longer at her place on the couch, the door to his office slid open and the golden crown of Colette the chosen one peeked through the door. Seeing that he had some semblance of being conscious, the kindergardener glowed and stepped through the entrance, the remains of her scone under her arm and the warm pie clutched tightly in her petite hands.

"Hi, Mister Yuan!" Colette beamed and held out the pin tin that was filled with sweet apple goodness. "I thought you might be hungry, seeing as how you're a part time angel and all, so I brought you pie-iiiiee!"

As if on cue, Colette tripped over a gigantic mountain of air and fell flat on her face. When she did, momentum wrenched the pie from her hands, sent it sailing through the air and hit Yuan squarely in the face with it.

"Oh, no!" The kindergardener squealed in horror, her eyes the size of dinner plates when she saw what she had done. "I'm so sorry, Mister Yuan!"

Yuan didn't respond. He instead blinked several times, gingerly removed the pie from his face and set the remnants of it on the surface of his desk, doing so while not saying a word.

"Are you okay?" The five year old asked, her deep blue eyes still round with worry and concern. Still silent, Yuan blinked as a large piece of the crust ran down his cheek and closed his eyes tiredly.

"..... I'm fine." He replied exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose. The tiny chosen looked away, obviously feeling very bad over what had happened to him because of her chronic klutziness.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I just kinda... tripped." Wringing her hands, Colette gazed up at Yuan, who merely sat there at his desk, his face and expression unreadable since he had just been attacked by pie.

"Uh..... I'm gonna find something else to do, so I'll be back later... okay? I'm really, really sorry, Mister Yuan." Colette's head hung down by her shoulders and she slowly walked out of the room, feelings of guilt and shame emanating from her tiny frame.

Watching her go, Yuan continued to observe where she had departed, even when the doors had sealed shut, leaving him alone in his office with the pastry formerly known as missile. The angelic commander sniffed for good measure, brought up his right hand and ran his index finger down his cheek, which left a clean streak in the yellowish goo that coated his face. Raising a turquoise eyebrow, he eyed it and licked the tip of his finger.

'Huh. Apple.' He deduced, his eyes shifting to the remains of what used to be a fresh dessert. Reaching into his desk drawer, the half elf angel pulled out what looked like an army knife and flicked it open to reveal that a set of utensils sat amongst the end options. After he selected the fork end of the knife, Yuan glanced at the pie, then at the fork, then back at the pie.

'... I do like pie.' Sticking the fork into the middle of the ruined dessert, Yuan began to eat the pie, all the while parts of the sweet filling still strewn about his face.

* * *

**Woo, another chapter's done! **

**... I want a scone.**

**Lloyd: Great, now we can get going to Sybak! I'm going to look extra hard for all my friends so we can get back on track with the pacts.**

**Zelos: But.. I don't wanna go to the Temple of Darkness with the banshee. She'll breathe fire at me and singe my hair.**

**Sheena: I don't want to go with you either, you pain in the behind, but I don't have any other options.**

**Zelos: ... nickel for every time I heard that one....**

**Sheena: What was that?**

**Zelos: Nothing!**

**Colette: Poor Mister Yuan, I threw his snack at him .... it's all my fault.**

**Lloyd: Don't feel bad Colette, we'll get this all sorted out when more writing gets done.... **

***pauses and looks around***

**Hey, where'd she go?**

**Kratos: She left to get a scone about five minutes ago.**

**Lloyd: *blinks* Oh.**

**Colette: Please review!**


	12. The Beginnings of Bonding

**Author's Note: Hello and welcome once again to my hollowed out volcano of plottiness. And a 'Happy Release Date to the Second Episode of the Tethe'alla Arc for the ToS Animation Series' to you all. I thought it appropriate to update on such a momentous occasion. I've been waiting far too long for this episode, two long and grueling months, and I'm so happy that it's been released. I don't think I could stand waiting another week.**

**Lloyd: Yeah, but the third one doesn't come out until September 23rd, right? Won't that mean you have to wait another three months?**

**Me: ... you're ruining the moment, Lloyd.**

**Lloyd: Oh. Sorry.**

**Me: Don't worry about it. I'm merely trying to engulf myself in the release of this episode, so the thought of having to wait another three months doesn't hit me until much later.**

**Lloyd: That makes sense, I guess.**

**Me: More than 'guess', my dear little protagonist. Also, thank yous for all of you who read, favorited, alerted and all that fun amusement. Plus, heaping plates of thank you sweets to freakyanimegal, AngelofaWhiteNight, Trickymander, Stephy825, Kiomori, silent romantic, ThePurpleRose, Amekoryuu and Destiny's Light for reviewing my fic! Thank you all so very much!**

**Disclaimery time: I don't own this, for many reasons and whatnot. Though.. I do own my theories.**

**Lloyd: Theories?**

**Me: Yes, theories. Theories that involve the ToS animation, for instance.**

**Lloyd: Like what?**

**Me: Oh, this and that. For example, there are going to be four episodes in the Tethe'alla Arc, yes?**

**Lloyd: Yeah.**

**Me: Even though they are making serious headway in the storyline by eliminating unnecessary events and merely sticking to the crucial sequences, there is far too much to be covered in just the span of three remaining episodes.**

**Lloyd: ... you think there'll be more?**

**Me: I don't honestly know... I have no proof or concrete evidence, but I do have a strong feeling that the storyline will not be finished by the end of the Tethe'alla Arc. **

**... believe what you will.**

**Lloyd: 0.0**

**Me: And off of that happy note, here's the chapter.**

**Edit: Fixed the 'Pleaides' thing. Gigantic thank yous and a big cake to Niffstral for pointing out my mistake with the Pleaides and the other side of 'sisters'. It's official that it is not a good idea to write while exhausted due to finals.**

Chapter Twelve: The Beginnings of Bonding

"AAAAAIIIIEEEE!" Zelos shrieked as he clung for dear life to the torso of the minute ninja as she flew through the air on her rheaird that had been borrowed from the Elemental Research Laboratory. Thankfully, the scientists had come into the possession of a rheaird prior to the party's age reversal, so the half elves had agreed to let her use it until she found her own. It had been nice to find out that the Rheiards could be adjusted to fit people's sizes, so the pair of children could fly to the Temple of Darkness, but figuring out that Sheena had a penchant for reckless speeding was a completely different endeavor.

Zelos was usually just fine with flying on the rheiards, but he preferred actually driving one on his own, not riding on one behind Sheena while he desperately prayed he didn't fall off due to her reckless steering. By the time Sheena finally touched down on the ledge outside the Temple of Darkness, Zelos was completely convinced his once fiery red hair had turned an unsightly shade of grey.

"Thank Martel, I'm alive!" Zelos gasped and fell onto the earth, hugging the grass underneath him. The ninja formerly known as speed demon looked down at her shellshocked passenger and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing?" Sheena asked as she turned off the rheiard's engine and let it list on the ground so it could cool off. Zelos rolled in happiness along the ground that he was still breathing and sighed merrily. After a minute, Zelos gazed up at Sheena, his still crimson hair bouncing about his face.

"Caressing the ground. Next time, I'm driving." He stated flatly as he pushed himself up into a sitting position on the dirt. Rolling her eyes, Sheena put the rheiard back in the wingpack and pulled out another bag that was green with handles on the top. The chosen paused, looked at the bag and raised an eyebrow, the rest of his face perplexed.

"Whatcha got there, Sheena?" He asked curiously as Sheena sat down next to him and flipped open the lid.

"Before we go in there, we should eat something first." The minute assassin replied. "So, I packed us a lunch."

"What is it?" Zelos asked as he glanced over her shoulder at her thermos and lunch box that had a depiction of Gnome on the front canvas flap.

"Miso Soup and Shiitakeyaki." Sheena responded. "I made it before we left." The ninja quickly poured the soup into two bowls, handed one of the mushroom skewers to Zelos and slid him his own bowl of soup.

"Oh, I gotcha." Zelos nodded, taking the skewer from her. "Thanks, I forgot to eat when I left the mansion and my stomach's been protesting ever since." With that, the miniature chosen dove into his late afternoon lunch with reckless abandon. The pair of school kids ate quickly, since they were both starving and swiftly made work of the food within eight minutes of beginning.

"That was really good." Zelos sighed happily, thrilled that his stomach no longer echoed like Gnome's cavern. "Just goes to show that you can, in fact, do some useful things after all."

Sheena glowered at him.

"Oh, stuff it. That's one up on you, anyway." Sheena replied hotly and held out her hand for his miso bowl so she could pack it away. Letting out a tired groan that he was oh so put upon, Zelos nodded and held out the bowl with his right hand while he propped the bottom of it with his left.

However, his fingers slipped on the bowl of leftover miso soup and consequently dumped the steaming liquid right onto the back of his left hand.

"Yeowch!" Zelos snapped his arm back and began to blow on his scalded hand. Sheena noticed the angry red mark on his skin from where the miso soup had splashed and grabbed some soy sauce from the nearby food bag. Snagging Zelos' hand, she quickly doused his hand in the brown sauce until it was thoroughly coated in it.

"What are you doing?" the confused chosen asked as he stared at his now soy sauce ridden hand.

"Pouring soy sauce on your hand." The bitty ninja replied. "If you burn yourself, pouring soy sauce on your hand will get rid of the stinging and burning feeling. Plus, it'll get it to heal a lot faster." Zelos snorted disbelievingly, his crimson eyebrow raised in an arch.

"Now that's just a lot of.. hey, it doesn't hurt anymore." Blinking, he realized the stinging sensation that had ingrained itself into his skin no longer was present, but instead there was a calm, cooling feeling on the back of his hand, like he'd splashed his hand into a bucket of summer rain.

"See, it does work." Sheena replied as she packed the soy sauce away in her lunch box and stuffed it all into the wing pack. Pausing a moment, Zelos brought his hand to his face, sniffed it and grimaced.

"But now my hand smells like soybeans and salt."

"It's better than smelling like charred chosen." Sheena countered. "Now quit whining and let's go." Still lamenting his hand, Zelos complied and followed her into the Temple of Darkness.

Black, deep pitch black darkness instantly filled his eyes the second he entered the sacred hall that led down into the pit that Shadow called home. Zelos blinked several times and waved his hand in front of him. He couldn't even see his own fingers in front of his face, let alone the fact he was waving his whole hand back and forth.

"So that's what real darkness is." The chosen commented offhandedly, poking himself in the nose with his cloaked hands. "Kinda unsettling."

"Yeah, no kidding." Sheena's voice echoed from ahead. The sound of a match striking hit the air, but still no light shone through the area until the glimmering light from the blue candle broke through the darkness. The silhouette of Sheena's miniscule form waited up above on the bridge and beckoned for Zelos to follow, her raven eyebrows tapered in a focused frown. Sniffing and rubbing his cold nose, the seven year old nodded and ran after Sheena, trying to catch up with her swift strides. Once he finally did, said seven year old rested his arms behind his head and looked around at the blue black tiles that comprised the ancient ruin they now occupied.

"Wow, even with that candle this place is pretty dark and spooky." Zelos whistled as he took a step into the dank and desolate halls of the Temple of Darkness. Scanning his eyes from left to right, he snorted and shook his head.

"All this darkness and no gorgeous hunny to call my own." He sighed dramatically and in one swift motion, snaked out an arm and draped it over Sheena, pulling her against his side.

"I guess you'll have to do." He purred, eyebrows raising suggestively. Sheena glowered at Zelos, nailed him in the stomach with her elbow and snorted when Zelos' crumpled forward, clutching his stomach in agony. While it probably did hurt quite a bit, Zelos added about ten times worth of histrionics to his injury and destroyed any hope of sympathy in the process.

"Geez, what kinda elbows do you have? You borrow a sword from Lloyd and stick it in your sleeve?" The shrunken chosen yelped as he rubbed the point of impact from her killer elbow. Sheena's hazel eyes narrowed at Zelos threateningly and she shook her tiny fist at him.

"You'd only be so lucky." She snapped back and turned her attention back to the cavern. The Temple of Darkness was just as the name described. It was a temple... completely shrouded in darkness. The walls were a blue blackish hue that reflected against the light of the blue candle, making the stones glimmer in the darkness as if they were basking in it. Faces of strange characters depicted themselves against the walls and stared at the pair of kids as they roamed up and down the halls for any sign of Shadow, their eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Man, look at the size of this place." Zelos groaned, tipping his headband up with his thumb. "How are we gonna find Shadow in here?"

"We look." Sheena replied, having bent down to look at a particularly stone face on the tiles, whose red eyes attempted to burn a hole into her stomach with its gaze. "And when we find him, we fight him, get the pact and then go look for everyone else." Nodding while rolling his eyes as he had already figured that out, Zelos leaned up against the wall and bent one knee so the flat of his foot rested on the stone.

"Right, right, I know..." Zelos sighed, resting his arms behind his head. A sudden movement, however, caught his eye, so the chosen peered at Sheena and frowned, his boyish nose scrunched and his eyebrows slanted downward. "What's that thing?"

"What thing?" Sheena asked, too busy trying to figure out what the faces were for.

"That thing behind you." Zelos pointed a finger towards Sheena, or rather, the shadowy entity behind her. Wheeling around, the summoner let out a gasp of surprise and fell back onto her backside, since her balance had flown out the proverbial window. Behind her sat a small creature that was about her size that bounced up and down in place. It seemed to be made up entirely of smoke, with tendrils of smoke curling out from the very tips of it's ends, and a glowing core sat in the top of what she presumed to be its head like an eye, though whether or not it was in fact an eye was debatable. The bizarre creature wasn't started by her sudden jolt when she realized its presence, but rather the eye changed from a light purple to turquoise blue and it continued to bob up and down.

After she regained her sense of self and punched Zelos for having laughed at her, Sheena squatted down next to the misted creature and poked it. While her finger was encased in darkness, she felt little to nothing on her fingers, like she had entered a room that had been filled with steam from a shower. It was there, plain as day, but it still didn't feel like she could physically touch or hold it.

"I dunno. I don't think it's a monster, but... wait a minute." Frowning, the summoner leaned in more and placed all of her hand inside the bobbing creature's middle, whose bluish core continued to waver up and down inside its wispy frame. "I think this is Shadow."

"Really?" Zelos raised an eyebrow and bent over next to Sheena. Running his hand through the monster, he blinked and stared at it. "I thought he'd be, y'know.. bigger than this."

"Me too. Though, this one doesn't feel like it's all of one thing." Sheena swiped a hand through the transparent entity again, her gloved fingers trailing through its body like a runner in thick fog.

"I think this is only a piece of Shadow. It only has one fifth the power of the actual summon spirit." She reported, sitting back on her heels. Glancing over at Sheena again, Zelos folded his arms and flicked a piece of his hair over his shoulder.

"How'd he get split like this?" The second grader asked. "Doesn't make much in the way of sense that a powerful summon spirit was broken apart into a pile of mist with a freaky eye."

"I don't know." Sheena replied, "But then again, it doesn't make sense that we've turned into school kids either." Zelos paused.

"Good point." He agreed, getting to his feet. Sheena did the same and stretched out her arms, causing the joints in her shoulders to crack.

"Well, anyway, we should look for a way down into the temple." the tiny ninja suggested. Scanning the area for a set of stairs, Sheena spotted a doorway that led down into the lower caverns of the temple and grinned. She started off towards the stairs, then turned back to see if Zelos had followed her. However, it wasn't Zelos who met her eyes. The shadow fragment bobbed up and down behind her, it's gaseous forms puddling around it like folds of translucent fabric. She took a step to the right. The shadow being followed. She took a step to the left. So did the shadow fragment.

"Look, he's following me." Sheena grinned happily as she ran her hand over the fragment's head like she would a friendly dog. The chosen, who was about three feet away from her, grinned, stretched and scratched his cheek with his right index finger.

"Huh, whaddya know, he likes you." He replied, eyeing the blob of Shadow. "No accounting for taste, obviously."

"Shut it you." The summoner glared at Zelos and folded her arms against her chest. "You're just jealous that he likes me better than you."

"Sure, sure." Zelos yawned, completely unfazed by Sheena's retort. Glancing down into the pit below, the miniature ninja noticed a large platform that spanned the good portion of the room on the floor. It was a bluish black hue that matched the rest of the room with blue glowing tiles along the floor, and a dim white light issued from a crystal in a lamp on the far side of the platform. While it was actually quite dim, compared to the darkness, it was positively blinding.

"We've gotta find the rest of Shadow. Let's put this one down in the pit below and then we can find the other four." Sheena pointed to the platform with her right hand and then to the shadow creature with her other.

Zelos blanched.

"Whoa, whoa, can't we just fight him in pieces?" Zelos interjected quickly, his red hair whipping about his face. "If we did that, we might actually stand a chance!" To his horror and disappointment, Sheena snorted and shook her head.

"No, it won't work if we do that. He has to be all in one piece for the fight to count towards the pact. Now get to herding!" She pushed him in front of the shadow being and gestured for him to get to work guiding the shadow piece down the stairs.

"Alright, alright. Keep your hair on." Zelos grunted unhappily at her and rolled up his flamingo pink coat sleeves. Turning to the bobbing piece of Shadow, he bent down and waved his arms at it in a coaxing motion.

"Okay, creepy shadow thing, let's go." He ordered. The shadow fragment pivoted towards him, though it only looked like it rotated, floated over to him and planted itself firmly on his shoe. Grimacing, Zelos pulled his leg out of its smog like body and slowly began to guide the shadow fragment towards the stairs. The shadow fragment did go grudgingly towards the stairs, but when it passed near a white crystal that occupied the top floor's hallway between the entrance and the stairs, its eye turned purple and it froze in place. The chosen frowned, bent over and tried bringing the shadow entity over with his hands and then his foot, but every single time the shadow creature got near the light, it would shy away and stop following him.

"Hey, what's the hold up? Why'd you stop herding?" Sheena called curiously, her hands firmly planted on her hips. The chosen looked at her, shrugged and returned his staring contest with the shadow fragment.

"I didn't. It just quit moving or something." Zelos waved a hand in front of it to get its attention, but it was no use. That shadow fragment was not going anywhere near the light, no matter how much the chosen wiggled his fingers in front of its eye. Sheena watched the odd display briefly and then punched her fist into her palm, having figured out what had happened. Zelos looked up at her again and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I get it. Shadow doesn't like light, so he runs away from it." Sheena explained wisely, "We'll need to shut all of this light off in order to get him to follow us." Zelos blinked, looked back at the shadow fragment, stared at it for a moment and took a large step back.

"What's with you?" The compact summoner asked, her eyebrow raised.

"They're like roaches. Glowy, shadowy, foggy roaches... gross." Zelos shuddered involuntarily and closed his eyes in disgust. Sheena snorted and folded her arms against her flat chest in exasperation.

"Man, you're more of a girl than I am." She commented wryly, her puff of a ponytail bristling behind her head.

"Regal's more of a girl than you are!" Zelos shot back hotly, not happy that she was making fun of his disdain for roaches.

"You take that back, you stupid chosen!" Sheena shrieked in indignation, her cheeks bright red, though the darkness hid them well, and snagged the back of Zelos' long flowing red locks with a grip of death and pulled hard.

"Ahh, not my hair!"

* * *

"So, were those older ladies cadging you for a snack?" Lloyd prodded as he trotted along the beaten old path next to Kratos. Kratos had been treated to yet another interrogation session courtesy of Lloyd for the good part of an hour and it was finally grating on what he believed to be his last nerve.

While he normally had nerves of steel which were coated in ice, they had been melted dangerously thin by the events of hours prior in the day. Kratos had been kept in the Pope's quarters for nearly three hours, during which he listened to several sermons that HE had written himself at the behest of Yggdrasill, and, even through all that, he still did not obtain all of the sacred wood that he needed for the ring of the pact. That, of course, meant that he would have to journey all the way to Flanoir in order to procure the rest of the wood he required. He had nothing against Flanoir at all, in fact he preferred it to the other cities in Tethe'alla, but traveling there would be a grand hassle. Plus, on the way out, he had been accosted by several very makeup ridden, very large, very desperate and very grabby women who had crossed several of his personal barrier rules.

Needless to say, he hadn't had a good day. And Lloyd quizzing him about it was not even beginning to help. Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced down at his son, who bobbed up and down along the road, his scarf precariously draped about his shoulders and spouting random theories about the old women as he went.

"Or maybe they were going to ask you for some help. Maybe one of their friend's hair got stuck in a chandelier-"

"Lloyd." Kratos stated abruptly, having come to a halt in the middle of the dust ridden road that led away from Meltokio. The boy, who had stopped by colliding with Kratos' flank, took a step back and rubbed his nose, since it stung from where it had smashed into Kratos' leg.

"Huh?" He blinked, tilting his head to the side. "What is it?" Kratos nonchalantly glanced down at Lloyd out of the corner of his eye, sighed and folded his arms against his chest.

"Did you eat yet?" He asked offhandedly, his eyes having shifted back to the highway in front of him.

When in doubt, distract Lloyd with food. Lloyd blinked, rubbed his nose again and began to think.

"Um, no, I don't think I've eaten since this morning." The tiny boy replied, his left hand holding his chin while he thought. "I guess I got a little preoccupied." Kratos sighed at the boy in front of him and pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Normally your world revolves around food. Why did you pick today to forget it?' He asked himself exasperatedly. Lloyd, having noticed the tired look that Kratos sported, frowned and folded his arms against his chest.

"What?" the six year old demanded. "What did I do to annoy you now?" Ignoring his comment, Kratos merely glanced over to the side of the road and let out a shallow breath.

"I see." He replied coolly, his hand still resting on the hilt of his sword. "Perhaps it would be wise to stop for the night here." Lloyd looked up from where he'd been staring, which had been his knee because it itched, and raised an eyebrow at the angel.

"We're stopping?" He asked curiously as he bent down to scratch the itch. "Why? Don't we have a ways to go, though?"

"It is too late to be traveling over an expanse of land." Kratos replied as he noted the orange hue that painted the sky overhead. "It is best to stop for now rather than travel farther."

"Oh." Lloyd blinked, fidgeting with the scarf around his neck, since the itch transferred positions. "Then we find a place to camp so I can sleep then?"

"It's too late to travel, yet not late enough for you to sleep." The seraph stated firmly, as he scanned the area for a suitable place to spend the night. "Though essentially what you said is true. Also, you have not eaten and while you may not be hungry now, you will be hungry later. Best to rectify the situation now as opposed to later."

"Huh." Lloyd knelt on the ground and massaged his knee with one of his free hands. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"I'm glad you agree." Kratos replied flatly and set to work creating the initial campsite. He worked quickly and quietly, while his younger companion followed him every step of the way, asking questions about what he was doing, carrying excess materials such as stones and lumber and inquiring about what Kratos' intentions were.

"Hey, Kratos?" Lloyd asked as he held a particular large pile of brush and kindling for the fire that the angelic being had created.

"Hm?" Kratos responded, his eyes focused on the ever growing flames of the fire. Lloyd set down the large pile of brush and dusted himself off before he folded his arms over his chest and flicked his scarf out of his face.

"What are you going to Sybak for?" He asked, or rather inquired stubbornly, his chestnut eyebrow caulked to show he meant business. Kratos paused, glanced at Lloyd from the corner of his eye, sighed and went back to his fire.

'Wonderful, this again. When will he learn that I am not going to tell him what I am doing until it is time?' Kratos asked himself tiredly, tending the fire with a nearby piece of brush.

"Are you going to meet someone?" Lloyd's voice cut through his internal monologue. Kratos closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Or are you picking something up? Maybe buying something?"

"Lloyd.. what I am doing you do not need to know." Kratos replied curtly, his eyes fixed on the fire.

"Why not? What can't I know?" Lloyd asked, his face obviously projecting his hope for another response. Sizing him up from the corner of his eye, Kratos shook his head and poked the fire with the stick.

"And are you supposed to be poking the fire with a stick?" Lloyd added, pointing to the branch that the seraph held. "You said that was a bad idea."

Kratos didn't reply.

"Why won't you tell me what you're going to do?

Kratos said nothing.

"Oh come on! Just a hint'll work or maybe we could play charades or-"

"What do you want to eat, Lloyd?"

"What?"

"Food." Kratos pointed to the miniature pot in front of himself. "What is it that you wish to eat?" It was best to cut Lloyd off before he decided to become increasingly nosy and his nosiness led to further confrontation. Plus, he honestly did want to know what his son wanted to eat, as he was going to be the only one eating it. While he did have the capacity for eating, he usually preferred to opt out as most tastes had grown boring over his four thousand year life.

"Could I... have curry?" Lloyd asked hopefully. "I love curry. It's one of my favorite foods."

"Curry. Very well then." The angelic swordsman nodded curtly and turned back to the fire and the cooking supplies. Luckily for Lloyd, Kratos did have enough in the way of ingredients in order to make curry, so that in itself was not too much of a problem.

'So he likes curry.. interesting.' Kratos thought to himself as he swiftly assembled all of the ingredients. Lloyd watched from a few feet away, craning his neck over so he could see what the seraph was doing. Slowly, inch by inch, Lloyd scooted forward until he occupied the space of land right behind Kratos, stretching his neck as far as it would go in an effort to see what was going on. Kratos, having noticed his encroaching movement, smiled inwardly to himself, though no trace of it even hinted on his features.

Once the curry was properly prepared and set on the fire to cook, the faux mercenary dusted off his hands and turned his attention back to the boy who sat on the ground behind him, his chestnut spikes of hair listing back and forth as he swayed gently.

"Now that that is taken care of, there are more pertinent things to deal with." The angelic swordsman stood up, pivoted where he stood and drew his own sword. He then pointed it at Lloyd, the tip of the steel blade gleaming in the firelight. Lloyd's eyes grew to the size of water dishes and he sprang back, swallowing hard as his pupils were locked on the blade. However, when he touched down on the ground behind him, Lloyd stumbled over a branch, lost his balance and fell onto the ground, his tailbone squawking when he landed on it.

"Wha-wha-wha- what are you doing?" The six year old stammered, his face contorted in horror as he scrambled away across the ground like a crab who was attempting to escape from a very hungry seagull. "Are you gonna..."

Slowly, the first grader peered up at Kratos, looked at the sword and let out a pitiful whimper. He then crouched down on the ground and shielded his head with both of his arms, his black pupils spanning most of the area of his cherrywood irises.

"Don't skewer me!" His boyish voice chorused through the trees and plains, causing several flurries of birds to take to the air. "I don't wanna be a Lloyd kabob!"

The seraph paused and raised an eyebrow at the boy, the sword's hilt still firmly gripped in his hand.

'...'Lloyd kabob'?' Kratos asked himself and sighed. Glancing down at the steel of his sword, a feeling of sheepishness washed over the seraphim and made him inwardly cringe. In his haste, he had not explained himself before he acted and thus had driven his young charge into a near state of hysteria because of it. He couldn't exactly blame Lloyd for believing that he had decided to lull the boy into a false sense of security and then strike when his shields were down. After all, any enemy worth his salt would have at least attempted to do so. However, while he wasn't Lloyd's enemy at his core, though Lloyd knew nothing about that, on the surface he was still the loyal and somewhat righteous Angel of Death of Cruxis. And he didn't get the name 'Angel of Death' for nothing.

Mentally kicking himself for sending Lloyd into a panic, Kratos lowered his sword a few degrees and pointed to the scabbards that were strapped to his son's waist with a flick of his wrist.

"Lloyd, get a grip on yourself and draw your weapons." Kratos commanded sternly, gesturing to the swords at the boy's hips with his sword. "This will be ineffectual if all you do is cower."

"Huh?" The six year old blinked dumbfounded, thoroughly taken aback as that had obviously not been what he had been expecting. "What do you mean?"

"Do it." Kratos repeated stiffly. "Since it has come to my attention that you are perfectly capable of wielding weapons despite your size, sword training shall commence once more." Lloyd did as Kratos said, but all the while his face shone with complete and utter incredulity.

"Wait... you're going to train me again?" Lloyd asked, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.

"Yes." Kratos replied shortly, his cherry eyes narrowly focused on the squirt who had yet to draw his swords.

"Why?" Said squirt scratched his lightly bandaged head in confusion. "But aren't you my enemy and why-"

"_Demon Fang!"_

Lloyd didn't get to finish his question, as a surge of power hurtled towards him. He jumped out of the way, rolled to the side and glared back at the executor of the sudden attack with all he could muster.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Lloyd demanded hotly as he got up from where he had landed on the ground. "You didn't even give me a chance to get ready."

"In a real battle, the enemy will give you no time to prepare before they finish you off." Kratos retorted calmly, thoroughly unimpressed or moved by Lloyd's vocal protest. "It will be more so in your younger state, so you must pay careful attention to your surroundings and most importantly, your opponent."

"But I-"

"_Double Demon Fang!"_

Kratos sent two more waves of attack towards Lloyd, who dodged out of the way once more and glared again.

"Don't think, react." The ancient swordsman's voice said stiffly. "Don't analyze it too much. Just do." Lloyd wiped some dust of his chin with the back of his hand and let out a harsh breath.

"You're really serious. You're going to train me.. and you're my enemy." The six year old shrugged, put both hands on his swords and unsheathed them. "Well, okay, but don't blame me if this comes back to haunt you." Lloyd pointed his right hand sword at Kratos and shifted all of his weight into his back leg, sinking himself firmly in a back stance.

"Here I come!" Lloyd pushed off from the hard ground and spiraled towards Kratos, his swords at the ready. Reading his first move, Kratos brought up his own sword in a guard and deflected the first blow that had been aimed at his side.

'Most things usually do Lloyd, most things usually do.' He thought wryly, and while his surface expression was one of cool focus and composure, deeply buried inside, he was smiling.

* * *

After Yuan finished eating the remnants of the pie and successfully removed the remaining bits of crust and filling from his hair, the renegade commander sat at his desk, surrounded with what looked like a white papery mountain. While he had been unconscious, someone had either slipped in and dumped an abhorrent amount of paperwork at his desk's inbox, or the gel order forms had successfully established a method of rapid procreation.

Either option could have be viable at that point.

'I loathe paperwork.' The angelic commander snarled to himself as he signed another paper which gave the soldiers in sector three permission to take off the second tuesday next month for a leave of absence. 'Why do I have to fill this out? Don't I have lackeys for this sort of thing?'

A knock at the door shook Yuan from his thoughts and from behind the mountain of papers, the turncoat seraphim craned his neck around the stacks so he could see the door. He narrowed his eyes at it, returned to his position at the desk and signed another paper.

"Enter." Yuan called offhandedly, dotting the 'i' in the last letter of his last name. He heard the door slide open and a pair of soft shoes entered the room. Yuan sighed. Three guesses as to who it was.

"Um.. Mister Yuan?" Colette's voice piped into the room. The Renegade leader sighed again. Bingo and right on the money.

"I'm really, really sorry for what happened." The pattering of her shoes ceased suddenly and from behind his paper fort, Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Mister Yuan?" The teensy chosen called. "Where are you?"

Yuan groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm behind the paperwork, Chosen."

"Oh." Colette replied and scampered around the desk so she could get a better view of where Yuan was. A flash of pink hit the corner of his eye and the angelic being noticed that the little girl had summoned her wings and was hovering next to his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked, bobbing up and down in the air next to him. "I didn't mean to get you with the pie." Glancing at her, Yuan shook his head once and turned back to his paperwork.

"It is alright for the time being. I suppose these things happen." He relented tiredly. Being a jerk wouldn't help the situation at that point. Plus, he did not want to risk another crying session in which he would be used as her personal handkerchief.

"Did you like your pie?" The tiny cherub asked as she bounced up and down in the air.

"... yes. It was very good." Yuan replied after he flipped over the page and embossed it with a seal press. Colette beamed at him and popped upwards, her wings bobbing to and fro.

"That's wonderful!" She piped joyously. The bitty chosen then rested her fist into her palm like she had remembered something, stuffed a hand into her pocket and pulled out her fist, which seemed to be enclosed around something.

"Also.. I made you something as an apology for getting you all sticky with the pie." She added quietly, holding out her hands that were still cupped over the thing she had retrieved from her pocket. The turncoat Seraphim glanced up from his paperwork and raised an eyebrow, suspiciously regarding her hands as if they could explode at any moment.

"What is it, Chosen?" Yuan inquired, his deep green eyes eying her tiny mitts that were encased over the unknown object. Colette opened her hands to reveal a intricately folded piece of paper that resembled a lopsided donkey. Truth be told, he wasn't sure exactly what it was supposed to be, and was even more confused when the cherub chosen placed it in his hand and beamed at him.

'What in the nine hells is this thing?' He asked himself confusedly as the scrunched piece of paper fell limp and sagged to its side, the green hue of the paper too loud to look at.

'Be kind.. be kind...' A voice coached him in the back of his mind and Yuan sighed tiredly at himself. Swallowing his first instinct to spout a sarcastic comment and his second to gawk incredulously, Yuan turned it over in his hand with his finger and looked back to Colette, who was still smiling like she was on cloud nine.

"It's... lovely, but.. what is it?" He asked gingerly, waiting for her response so he could play off of it.

"It's a doggy that I made with paper. Sheena showed me." Colette explained jovially, pointing to the lurid piece of folded paper in his palm.

Upon examining it a second time, Yuan could see how the paper resembled a dog. An ancient, overweight bulldog that had suffered a stroke, but a dog nonetheless.

"This is origami, correct?" He swiftly changed the subject in the hopes she would not want him to gush over it.

"Yeah, that's what Sheena called it." The miniature chosen nodded. "I wanted to learn how to make a dog, so she showed me. Neat, huh?"

"The craftsmanship is... unique." The angelic commander replied curtly, noting the less than perfect folding of the edges and how one of the dog's ears looked like someone had taken a weed whacker to it.

"I'm glad you like it." She grinned and floated back down to the floor, her soft shoes sinking into the carpeting of his office.

"I'm gonna go for a walk now. I need to stretch my legs some more." Colette patted Yuan's hand with the origami dog with her own slender paw and trotted over to the door.

"I'll be back later." She waved at Yuan and strode out the door, the sliding door shutting swiftly behind her. Once again alone in his office and buried in a landslide of papers, the angel commander leaned back in his desk, fiddling with the folded gift of an apology that Colette had made. After a moment or two of observing it, Yuan blinked, stared off into space, shifted his focus down at the dog and frowned.

"What am I doing?" Yuan exclaimed tersely, quickly setting the mediocre origami creation back on the desk's surface. "I can't be doing this. I have paperwork to fill out, underground resistance movements to conduct, man children to thwart, a pair of desian ranches to calibrate, Lloyd to capture and figure out a cure for migraines. I don't have time to be preoccupied with a perky little girl and her ridiculous folding paper." Snorting, Yuan scrawled out his name on another form in loopy cursive and shoved it aside.

'Though...' The ancient Angel of Reason glanced up and eyed the dog again.

'It is kind of.. cute.'

* * *

"Oww, why'd you try to trip me down the stairs?" Zelos' voice bellowed through the stairwell in the Temple of Darkness.

"I didn't, you did that all on your own!" Sheena's voice matched his in intensity, though hers was much higher and rage ridden.

"Yeah, right, like I'm gonna believe that, you crazy banshee!"

"Dumbass Chosen!"

The sound of a fist hitting skull reverberated through the dank hallows of the staircase and echoed, which was then followed up by the echo of one Tethe'allan chosen being flung into the side of the wall with a crunch.

"Ouch, dammit that hurt-" The shrunken casanova shot back as he peeled himself off the wall, but stopped midway and felt it again.

"Wait.. what's this?" There was something weird about the wall, it didn't feel complete or even.. solid.

"What's what?" The petite summoner asked, all of her rage and irritation from two seconds prior gone with the wind and thus replaced with curiosity.

"There's a space through here." Zelos replied, sticking his arm through the crack in the wall. "I bet I could squeeze through."

"You think that's a good idea?" Sheena asked, her hands on her hips and a skeptical expression on her face. Zelos shrugged and looked back at the wall.

"Eh, probably not, but still. You never know until you try." He replied, wriggling his way into the crevice. "I'll be back in a few, mmkay?" Sheena snorted and shook her head in exasperation at his stupidity.

"Alright. Be careful."

Zelos blinked and popped his head back out of the wall so his nose was about five inches from hers.

".. what was that?"

"I said be careful. There could be monsters on the other side, so be careful." Sheena repeated herself and folded her arms. Beaming smugly, Zelos winked at her and gave her an award winning smile that made hunnies from all over swoon.

"Aww, are you worried about me? Falling for me, are ya?" He cadged, eyebrows raising up and down suggestively. Sheena snorted and shoved Zelos' head back into the crevice with the palm heel of her hand.

"Just get in there before I create a new hole in the wall with your head." She snorted crankily, her face a slight tinge of pink.

"Ooh, ouch. Fine, fine I'm going." Zelos squeezed all of himself into the crack in the wall again and slowly inched his way through, grumbling all the way.

"It's either monsters in there or a banshee out here. No love, man, no love."

He was in there for a good ten minutes before his face shot back out of the crack and nearly sent Sheena on the floor in a start.

"Hey, Sheena, give me the ring for a minute." Zelos pointed to the sorcerer's ring that occupied her finger and glanced over his shoulder back into the crevice.

"Huh? What for?" Sheena asked as she got up and slid the ring off her finger.

"I found this thing that'll get rid of the light so we can herd those freaky jelly things around." The would be stealthy chosen replied as he turned his gaze back to her. "It's just like the other ring changing stations."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, fork it over." Zelos' hand stretched through the crevice and held out his palm for the sorcerer's ring. Grudgingly, Sheena handed over the ring and placed it in his palm. Zelos quickly slid the ring onto his finger, admired it for a second and then inched back into the crevice. Ten more minutes later, the would be ladies' man crawled out of the crack in the wall, looking thoroughly triumphant.

"Okay, I think this thing's ready to turn off those lights." Zelos held up the ring and pointed it into the air like it was a talisman of light. "It worked on the glowing face block in there, and I found another weird shadowy roach thing, so it should work with the other blocks and lights, if you're still insistent on fighting him in one full price instead of five easy installments."

Sheena shot him a dirty look that said 'Of course I am, now get your rear in gear while you still have one.'. Sighing, Zelos shook his head, his expression pained, and pointed up towards the stairs.

"Alright, alright. Let's get to shadow wrangling." With that, the pair of elementary school kids dashed up the stairs to wrangle some summon spirits.

* * *

It had been quite a long training session and by the time they had finished his last training exercise, Lloyd had been barely able to stand up. After almost falling asleep in his food, the boy has situated himself next to his older counterpart and had resigned himself to staring into the flames that licked about the log in the center of the fire pit. Kratos watched the tiny boy list back and forth in his spot, about to succumb to the sleep his body so desperately needed.

'He managed to do quite well in the training session.' The seraphim thought to himself as he observed Lloyd quietly from where he sat. 'I was surprised that he has come this far without additional assistance. Though, since the training, he has been exceedingly quiet.' He mused, scrutinizing the younger version of Lloyd with a trained eye. His gaze eventually fell to the loosened bandage about the boy's forehead and his eyes narrowed slightly at it.

"Lloyd." The seraph murmured quietly, almost overpowered by the crackling of the fire against the wood.

"Hm?" Lloyd looked up from where he had been staring at the fire. "What is it?"

"Let me see your wound." Kratos gestured to Lloyd's forehead and beckoned him to come closer so he could examine it.

"Oh.. uh, okay." The six year old gingerly got to his feet, dusted himself off and trotted over to where Kratos tended to the campfire. Lloyd then sat down next to the angelic swordsman's right side, settled himself into the warm summer grass and turned so he faced him. Once the boy was completely done fidgeting with his newfound spot, Kratos untucked the end piece of the linen cloth that wove itself around Lloyd's forehead and raveled it around the palm of his left hand.

"Hm..." The angelic seraph narrowed his eyes at the red patch of skin on Lloyd's forehead and frowned, fully taking in all of the details from the general picture to the tiniest tidbits of information. He seemed as calm and collected as ever as he scrutinized the area of where a tree branch had impacted his son's forehead.

However Lloyd wasn't as calm and collected. He was more curious and antsy that his head was being analyzed and he couldn't see.

"'Hm'? How's it look?" The first grader asked, his eyes attempting to stare through his skull so he could get a good look at his own forehead without using a mirror.

"It's nearly healed. There is a red mark and a small rough patch of skin, but otherwise you are fine." Kratos diagnosed, leaning back from examining Lloyd's forehead and rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword. "All the wound needs now is air. You no longer require a bandage."

"Sweet, no more itching!" Lloyd pumped his fist into the air several times and happily settled back down on the ground, thrilled to be rid of the scratchy linen fabric around his forehead.

"Hmph." Kratos closed his eyes and inwardly shook his head. Lloyd became excited and chipper far too easily. Though, perhaps that enthusiasm was what made Lloyd Lloyd...

"Hey, Kratos?" Kratos thoughts were interrupted once more by a skinny arm that pointed straight upward into the night sky.

"What is it?" The seraphim asked, his eyebrow raised.

"What's the name for that cluster of stars that's all bunched together up there?" Lloyd asked, pointing his slender left index finger towards a dim gathering of stars that lingered in the corner of the blanket of night. Glancing up at them, Kratos' eyes locked on the cluster and a hint of a smile graced his features again. Though, thankfully it was dark, so Lloyd had hopefully taken no notice to it.

"That's the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters." Kratos replied, a curtain of auburn hair drifting into his left eye.

"Pleiades, huh?" Lloyd repeated, fiddling with the rogue strand that constantly flicked him in the face. "Why're they called the Seven Sisters?"

"They are all kept together in a relatively close vicinity and there are many of them. They are not definitive by themselves, but only as a whole entity, just like the sisters or the Pleiades. Seven stars, seven sisters. Though, there are only six stars, since the seventh does not shine." Kratos brushed his hair out of his face, though it only returned seconds later. "I believe there is a story that goes along with that name as well."

"Really?" Lloyd perked up, his fatigue long forgotten, and stared at Kratos with sparkling eyes. "What is it?" In response, Kratos raised an eyebrow at him.

"You wish to know?" He inquired, eyebrow never wavering.

"Yeah, of course I do." Lloyd nodded vigorously, "Astronomy's the only subject I'm actually good at, except P.E. and Art and stuff."

"Very well, I will give you the short version of it as it is late and you need to sleep, lest you lag behind tomorrow."

"You see, there was a titan who was had seven daughters, each more beautiful than the last. However, they were pursued by another hunter of sorts, so as a way of protecting them, the titan turned his daughters into doves. Some time after that, they were then turned from doves to stars by the ruling God above all."

Lloyd nodded as he listened to Kratos' explanation intently, and grew uncharacteristically thoughtful, his eyes either shifting from the stars, or back to Kratos himself. Once he had finished his astronomical lesson, Lloyd turned his cherrywood eyes on Kratos and beamed.

"That's pretty interesting that there's a story to match the stars." The six year old swordsman replied, his cheek rested on his fist. "But.. how'd they go from the doves to the stars? That's a bit extreme." Letting out an exasperated, yet mildly amused sigh, Kratos gazed up at the stars and folded his arms against his chest.

"I don't know, Lloyd. I've yet to figure that out myself."

* * *

**Chapter is now complete. Hooray!**

**Lloyd: What's gonna happen now? **

**Me: You'll just have to wait and see.**

**Lloyd: But when will that be?**

**Me: As soon as I find the newest episode of the Tethe'alla Arc and watch it.**

**Lloyd: That's it?**

**Me: That's it. I get raws, you get chapter.**

**Lloyd: Seriously?**

**Me: Seriously. The moment I see that episode, the moment after I finish watching, you get a new chapter. Now go find me raws.**

**Lloyd: Kratos!**

**Kratos: What?**

**Lloyd: We've gotta go find the raws of the new episode now!**

**Kratos: Why?**

**Lloyd: New raws means new chapter! Let's go!**

***snags Kratos' hand and drags him off to go find the new episode***

**Me: While they go looking for the newest episode, please review!**


	13. Children's Games

**Author's Note: Wow.. just wow.**

**Lloyd: What's wow?**

**Me: Last time it took way longer to find those raws than it did this time.**

**Lloyd: Yeah, it was a lot easier to find them. Is that a bad thing?**

**Me: No, not at all. I'm not complaining, I was just a little surprised.**

**Lloyd: Oh.**

**Me: Mmhm. Thank you to all of you who read, favorited, alerted, and any of the aforementioned, plus a huge round of thank yous to NiffStral, Amekoryuu, AngelofaWhiteKnight, Kiomori, silent romantic, The RPers HELL group, ThePurpleRose, and Destiny's Light for reviewing! Thanks a bin!**

**Now, disclaimer ahoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, we'd all be able to see what was going to happen to Yuan directly after the new bonus episode. What they had planned scares and fascinates me at the same time. I wish there were subs. I can wing it, but still, confirmation for my theories would be nice.**

Chapter Thirteen: Children's Games

"Wow, look at the size of this thing!" Lloyd whistled, staring at the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge with all his might, his tiny hand covering his eyes like a visor. Kratos glanced down at the tiny boy at his side and sighed. The pair of swordsmen, both ancient and adolescent in actual age, yet not by appearance, had travelled quite a distance in the early morning, though the start had been anything but perfect. It had taken most of Kratos' patience to rouse Lloyd out of his sleeping stupor, and even after he had, the boy's morning routine still had the consistency and speed of cold molasses.

'He is not one for waking up well, that much is certain, yet the sight of anything remotely interesting and he's a gas molecule.' Kratos mused to himself as Lloyd bounced about the platform that led onto the bridge, his miniature shoes tapping on the cold stone. The angelic swordsman watched Lloyd's flittering pacing for a few minutes, before he shook his head and strode onto the platform as well.

"It is merely a bridge, Lloyd. You have already crossed it once before, since you have already journeyed to Sybak prior to this, so why you are so enthused about the bridge eludes me." He commented offhandedly, his left hand hovering at the hilt of his sword. Perhaps it was his old age, but he did not see what was so intriguing about a bridge that Lloyd had obviously already seen. Snorting, the teensy first grader stopped his dashing up and down the platform, huffed and peered up at his taller counterpart, his face in a pout.

"You're no fun." Lloyd grunted in a retort, but quickly let his unhappiness drop from his face when the large cables on the sides of the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge hoisted the gigantic planks of ancient stone back into a straight and narrow path to the other side of the continent.

"That's so cool!" The boy bounced up and down as if he was on springs, his white scarf flapping in the wind. Kratos observed Lloyd's antics from a few steps away, hints of a small smile gracing the tips of his face. While Lloyd's impatience usually irked him mightily during the Journey of Regeneration, mostly due to its frequent visitations and intensity, for some reason that he could not quite mark, the jubilant laughter and enthusiasm that cackled from the small boy as he bounded back and forth along the platform was quite refreshing. It was almost contagious.

Lloyd, thoroughly taken in by all of his excitement over the bridge's mechanical system, whirled around and beamed at Kratos, though his smile slowly faded away when his cherrywood eyes landed on the angel's face. In it's place, an expression of incredulity

and surprise filled his eyes and he stared at the older man. Kratos, noticing the sudden surcease of Lloyd's flailing, looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. Getting the hint, Lloyd stepped a tad closer and squinted his eyes, raising his own eyebrow to match that of the antiquated angel.

"... are you.. are you smiling?" The boy asked curiously, his reddish brown irises locked on Kratos.

"No." Kratos replied curtly, his face as stoic and hard as ever, striding past the boy as his hair fell into his face. Lloyd frowned and trotted after him, the tails of his scarf billowing in the wind.

"You sure? I thought I saw-"

"You thought wrong." The finiteness in his voice cut the first grader off short and left him standing a few feet away, now thoroughly confused at what he might or might not have seen. Out of the corner of his eye, Kratos noted that Lloyd was deep in thought, his chin resting on his fist. After a minute or two, the spiky haired six year old shrugged and folded his arms behind the back of his head.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I don't think you're actually capable of smiling more than once. I probably was just seeing things." He replied loftily as his eyes fell onto the cables of the bridge. Kratos replied with a soft 'mmph', but did not tear his eyes away from the shrunken version of his son, who was humming a soft tune to himself as he waited. In all actuality, he probably had been smiling a miniscule amount, but he was not going to admit that any time soon. If he did, there was no telling how much Lloyd would continue to pester or tease him about it.

'While Lloyd's natural and already intense curiosity has only been heightened by his new age, his pestersome attitude will grow tiring all too quickly.' The angelic being pinched the bridge of his nose and flicked some of his bangs out of his face so he could see properly. Glaring at nothing in particular, Kratos glanced up at the bridge as the maintenance crew had just finished removing the gate that blocked passage through and returned his hand to the hilt of his sword.

"The bridge is in operation now. Do not dally." The angelic sword master told Lloyd flatly, gesturing to the mechanical pathway with a nod. Lloyd snorted and walked after Kratos, his gaze turned upward at the blue morning sky.

"Right right... Mister Stick in the Mud." He murmured, cranky that the angel had not shared his jubilant enthusiasm. Whether or not he was supposed to have heard the first grader's snarly reply, Kratos' angelic hearing had served him well and picked up the dulcet, yet hushed tones of Lloyd's voice as if they had been shouted at him via a megaphone.

"What was that?" He asked quietly, glancing over at Lloyd and threateningly raised an eyebrow. Lloyd blanched and swallowed hard, his cheeks turning a pale pallor.

"Nothing!" The first grader squeaked and pointed to the bridge in an attempt to steer the conversation away from his eminent doom should he continue such a thought.

"Uh.. let's go." The boy then pivoted on his heel and dashed towards the bridge's main pass, his scarf whipping in the wind. Kratos smirked slightly as Lloyd ran for the bridge and steadily joined him, though his pace was much more relaxed than the fervent sprinting of Lloyd.

However, when he arrived at the space that conjoined both the platform and the bridge itself, Kratos found that Lloyd had halted his run and was leaning off the railing, staring around towards the flank of the bridge. The first grader didn't cease his gaze for even a moment, even when Kratos approached him and stood at his side.

"What is it?" The faux mercenary inquired, the boy's silence piquing at what curiosity he had left.

"The side of the bridge. Look." Lloyd pointed over to the side of the bridge and his shoulders slumped some more. Kratos raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the bridge's paneled side.

Bulbous mounds of scaly and rough exspheres clustered around the side panelling of the controls on the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge like barnacles on a pier. Exspheres upon exspheres clung to the metallic frame of the transoceanic highway and gave the bridge the appearance that it was molting. While it wasn't the first time he had gazed upon the scaly conglomerate of exspheres that powered the bridge, Kratos had forgotten how utterly repulsive it looked. The image of fish skin wrapped around lumpy burnt briquettes came to mind and plastered itself in his mind's eye, making him inwardly cringe.

Taking his eyes away from the bridge he now found to be highly discouraging to an appetite, the angelic swordsman noticed that Lloyd, while he was still peering at the bridge's exspheres, rubbed the back of his left hand subconsciously, just above where his exsphere sat precariously on it's keycrest mount.

'The sight of such an abhorrent amount of exspheres must be upsetting him.' Kratos thought to himself. 'Especially since he knows what exactly they need in order to awaken.' Ever since the incident at the Asgard ranch, Lloyd had grown particularly sensitive to exspheres and especially with how they came to be what they were. He had been unnerved by them before, but after what he had learned from his experience during their infiltration of that ranch, his sensitivity to them had been at least tripled.

"The exspheres." He responded quietly, his left hand ever resting on the hilt of his sword. "They must bother you." The first grader looked at Kratos out of the corner of his eye, sighed shallowly and turned his eyes back to the side of the wall.

"Yeah." Lloyd nodded, his chestnut eyebrows tapered down in a sharp crease. "All those lives, just tossed away for a stupid machine." His grip on the back of his left hand tightened like a tourniquet around until it shone with white and he grimaced, jaw clenched shut.

"It's not right. That shouldn't happen." He added tersely, the chestnut spike of rebellious hair drifting into his face again. Kratos internally felt himself sigh and glanced down at Lloyd again. While he did agree with Lloyd, seeing a world of black and white was not so easy when he had reached the tender age of over four millennia. Too much grey had entered the picture during that span of time, though because of the Cruxis Crystal he wore, thankfully none of it was in his hair.

"Yet it has happened." Kratos replied firmly, his eyes back to the gigantic orbs that adorned the wall, "And that what has already happened is not easily changed by the mere wish to take it back." Turning on his heel, the angelic swordsman strode onto the bridge and began walking towards the other side, his strides flowing in a steady cadence with his thoughts.

Lloyd, having initially missed the fact that his escort was no longer standing next to him, turned to make a smart reply, blinked and his jaw fell when he realized he was alone. Kratos looked back just in time to see the first grader shake himself from his stupor, clamor onto the platform and sprint after him. Slowing his pace a miniscule amount, Kratos waited for Lloyd to make up his lost time, though he did not actually cease walking. It was only until Lloyd practically collapsed onto the stone platform to his right, the palms of his hands digging into his knees that the angel stopped walking in order to give him a moment to catch his breath.

"That-that doesn't make it fair." Lloyd retorted hotly, his cheeks rosy due to his sudden mad dash and the cold sea air kissing his face. Kratos snorted in a response and resumed walking. If he had the breath to argue, he had the breath to keep his pace properly.

Smirking to himself at Lloyd's abundant naivete, Kratos looked over his shoulder at Lloyd, shook his head once and then turned back to the road that stretched in front of them.

"Life is not fair, Lloyd."

Lloyd's already pink face grew bright red and he glared daggers at Kratos' back, his cherrywood eyes boring a hole into his cape.

"You! Don't you feel anything?" the little boy demanded, his hands curled into tight fists. Kratos ignored his indignant outburst and continued walking calmly, his hand ever resting on his sword. As he walked away, he could feel the raging energy exuding from Lloyd's tiny frame, as it was growing with each passing moment and flooding the bridge's pathway. He frowned, observed the ocean that lapped up against the side of the bridge and closed his eyes tiredly.

"Most of the exspheres you see there were the remnants of excess exsphere production left over from Desian human ranches. Those lives have already been sacrificed to the exspheres. While it is indeed a tragic cycle, and perhaps not what most deem 'fair', would you prefer to truly cast away all those lives just because it was unfair?" Kratos asked quietly, his back still to the boy while the tails of his cape fluttered in the wind. Lloyd opened his mouth to speak, but due to the sudden silence, it was plain to see that all of his wind of indignation had been taken out of his sails of righteousness.

"Th.. that's.." Lloyd fidgeted with some words, but nothing audible came out. Letting out a silent breath of exasperation, the ancient sword master stopped his strides and remained silent for what seemed like an eternity.

"While exspheres may be a different form of existence, they still exist and live, as do the souls of the people inside them. Don't throw them away." Kratos spoke sternly, his back to his young charge, who merely stood like a statue, watching him intently. Feeling the fervent gaze strike against his cape, he opened his eyes so they were half lidded and glanced over his shoulder at the first grader, who was still indeed scrutinizing his every move.

"They are worth far more than that." He added gently, before he turned to look at the sky. The sun that had originally dominated the morning sky had been snuffed out by the overbearing clouds, which in turn cast a darkened and grim shadow over the bridge and the rest of the sea around it.

Silence settled over the bridge and only the sound of footfalls against the stone broke through the thick layer of tranquility. Kratos had once again begun his cadence across the bridge, his mind knee deep in thought. Lloyd had grown uncharacteristically quiet incredibly fast, he noted, though it wasn't the disparaging quiet that had plagued the boy a few days earlier. Regardless of the reason, nothingness filled the air and made the entire situation highly uncomfortable.

Kratos grimaced. Perhaps he had said too much. An agent of Cruxis was not supposed to care about trivial things such as exspheres or what methods were used to awaken them. All the members of Cruxis were supposed to be concerned with was the incoming New Age of Half Elves and the resurrection of Martel. Nothing more, nothing less. Well, that was how he figured Lloyd had understood the situation. The angelic being sighed again, though he showed no signs of doing so. He was greying the line between good and evil, right and wrong, he realized that, but there came a point at which the lines of black and white smeared together, making it almost impossible to see which line began and the other ended. Though, whether or not Lloyd fully comprehended that fact was debatable.

'Maybe I said too much. Perhaps it is too soon for Lloyd to understand that some areas are not in black and white solely.' Kratos thought harshly to himself as he walked. 'He's just a boy, now more so than ever. Seeing more than one perspective may be asking too much of him at this point-'

"Hey, Kratos?" Kratos was thrown from his thoughts when Lloyd's voice piped through the air and the small boy stood in front of him, blocking his path. Though, while he was doing a wonderful job at being a pint sized wall, Lloyd's face didn't sport a look of anger or belligerence. Instead, an expression of intrigue graced it and Lloyd stared up at Kratos, the six year old's round cherrywood irises locked with his own set.

".. when you say 'they', do you mean the exspheres or the people inside them?" The six year old inquired curiously, one of his chestnut eyebrows raised in an arc. The angelic lord thought for a moment, looked down at his son and, smirking a tad in amusement at himself, turned his gaze towards the blue gray sky again.

"... Both, I suppose."

"Oh." Lloyd responded, sounding mildly surprised. The boy tore his eyes from the older man whose path he blocked and peered back at the bulbous exspheres, ever clinging the side of the pier like oversized barnacles. Frowning, Lloyd left his post as a road block and wandered over to the far side of the bridge, examining the orbs from afar as he did.

"You said a while back that you'd want to be useful for someone else who was going to stop that cycle of people being turned into exspheres if you were turned into one of those, right?" Lloyd asked as he gripped the railing and leaned over so he could get a better look.

"I did." Kratos confirmed curtly as he joined the boy next to the edge of the bridge.

"I don't like it that innocent people were turned into exspheres.. but .." Lloyd folded his arms, rested them against the side of the wall and flopped his chin onto the folds of the red fabric of his shirt sleeve.

"If ... if I was turned into an exsphere, I wouldn't want to get thrown away." The shrunken squirt blew the rogue strand of hair out of his face so it fluttered up and down in the wind and let out a deep exhale.

"I wonder if they feel the same way." Lloyd mused thoughtfully, flipping the tails of his scarf over his shoulders and letting go of the railing. He looked over at Kratos, caulked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, smiled a little and then started trotting down the bridge with his childlike bounce. Kratos watched him go, raised his own eyebrow at the boy and followed after the first grader, his hand still on the hilt of his sword.

'Perhaps he is farther along than I thought.'

* * *

"Finally." Yuan heaved a sigh of relief as he stacked the last paper into his outbox. His desk, which had looked like a dumping ground for dead trees at one point, was now pristine and spotless, save the lopsided little dog that the pint sized chosen had left for him to enjoy. The former half elf, thoroughly grateful that his squirmish with the vile villain known as paperwork ended in his victory, sank back into the plush cushions of his desk chair and sighed contentedly to himself.

"Now that is over I can finally take a few minutes to clear my head-" The sound of the door to his office sliding to the side broke him out of his lackadaisical planning and send him reeling back to reality as the diminutive face of one chosen of mana peeked her head through the door.

"Mister Yuan?"

'And I spoke too soon once again.' The renegade commander pinched the bridge of his nose and turned his eyes upward to see a flash of blonde hair bounce into the room, her arms swung around her back, and skid to a halt next to the side panel of Yuan's desk.

"What is it, Chosen?" He asked tiredly, his aqua blue curtain of bangs drifting into his face so his right eye was cleverly concealed. Standing on the tips of her shoes, Colette peeked over the edge of the desk and beamed when no stacks of papers met her gaze.

"Oh, you're even done with your work, that's great!" The kindergardener piped and, with a blinding flicker of pink, summoned her wings, floated into the air and planted herself on the desk top of the seraphim's workspace.

"You wish something?" Yuan inquired again, now eyeing the little girl who occupied the surface of his office desk with an expression of great suspicion and scrutiny, just in case she decided to scuff the polished surface with her shoes.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I forgot." Colette stuffed a hand into the pocket of her white dress with blue trim and retrieved a thin box with a red and white design on the cover. "Look what I found." Sitting with a flump on the desk's tabletop, Colette held out the box for Yuan and waved them up and down so he would get the hint to take it. Yuan nodded, having gotten said hint, reached and took the box. Upon closer inspection, the renegade leader realized that she had given him a small container of what looked like simple playing cards.

"A deck of cards?" He asked in confirmation, his turquoise eyebrow raised. Colette beamed at him and swayed from side to side in her spot on his desk.

"Yeah. I thought that since you're working so hard, being a renegade, seraphim and part time angel all at once, you could use a break, so I brought cards I found in the renegade's locker room."

Yuan stared at her with a dead look.

'What was she doing in the locker room?' Yuan asked himself, but swiftly shook his head the moment that thought ran through his mind. 'No, no... I don't think I want to know.'

"Let's play a game." Yuan shot out of his thoughts and gave Colette another raised eyebrow, looking for any signs she was joking. From the cheery expression on her face to the fact that she had taken the cards from him and was trying to shuffle the cards, he gathered she wasn't kidding. Groaning, the angelic renegade rubbed his temples and applied the proper amount of pressure so he could stave off another headache he felt coming on.

"Chosen, I have far too much to do-"

"But it'll be fun!" The teensy five year old on his desk interrupted. "You look like you need some fun. You work too hard."

"Chosen, this is really not necessary-" Yuan stated flatly, but his words fell short when a pair of round, deep blue, and very convincing puppy eyes made their way into his area of vision. He looked back at her, matching her gaze with a hard,stern stare of his own, but eventually came to the conclusion that stoicism and militaristic responsibilities were not going to win over the piteous eyes of a five year old, no matter how much he wished otherwise. Plus, the quivering lip only added to the effect.

"... alright. However, this will only have one game, understood?" Yuan finally relented, his back sinking further into his chair in defeat. "I have too much to do to be dawdling."

"Okay, Mister Yuan." Colette trilled like a bird who finally got that worm out of the ground. Crossing her legs, she then took up the cards and attempted to shuffle the cards, though all she managed to do was rumple them mightily.

"What game exactly did you have in mind?" Yuan asked, half convinced he should take the cards as she was inadvertently sending them all around the desk while she shuffled. It wasn't her fault, per say, but her petite hands were not the size to which most dealers would desire.

"Go fish." The shrimpy chosen replied jovially, glancing up from her card ridden hands and lap and grinning toothily at him. "Do you know how to play?"

Yuan snorted.

"Yes, I know how to play." In 4000 years, he'd damn well like to think he knew how to play 'Go Fish'. He hadn't played cards in the longest while, mostly due to the fact that he rarely won, as there was only one person who played and he was insanely adept at winning.

"Oh good. I had to show Lloyd, because the only game he knew how to play was this game with 'eights' and how they were loony." Colette picked up an ace that she'd dropped and set it back into the mix of her shuffling.

"You mean 'Crazy Eights'?"

"Yeah, that's the one. He beat everyone in the school with it, including the Professor." Colette gingerly mixed the cards in her hand and doled out the proper amount for both herself and the renegade commander she had coerced into playing her card game.

"He's really good at them. He won against the other villagers too. Even the mayor." Colette laughed happily as she remembered, her giggle like bells over the air. "He was so mad that Lloyd won, since he was only nine at the time, he shut himself in his house for a week and wouldn't come out. Genis fell on the ground and almost passed out from laughing. It was so funny."

'That sounds rather familiar.' Yuan's mind flashed back to a scene from long ago in which a certain spiky haired swordsman had won most of the half elf's money due to a bet that they had made over a game of cards. He was even more horrified when he learned that his money had then been consequently spent on sword polish and jerky.

That was the last time Yuan ever bet over anything.

Although, the chosen's obvious fondness for Lloyd and her open speaking of him and her friends was rather interesting. From what he could gather, talking about her friends made her face light up and she seemed more at ease, though it wasn't as if she was uncomfortable with being inside the wintry base. Strolling in and out of the locker room proved that much.

'Hm... she must know quite a lot about Lloyd, since she's known him for such a long period of time.' He mused, taking up his cards with one swift motion. Perhaps if he inquired subtly about the boy from time to time, he could learn various pieces of information that could have the potential to be useful in the future.

"Mister Yuan, you can go first."

"Hm? Oh, right." Yuan broke out of his plot ridden trance and looked down at his cards. Two threes, a queen, a jack, a nine, a four, and an ace of clubs, totaling his hand to seven. It wasn't a bad hand, but there wasn't anything particularly fantastic about it either. Glancing at her from his cards, Yuan shook his head and gestured at her with a flick of his wrist.

"Actually, I believe the younger may go first. Go ahead." He offered, having decided to abide by the Tethe'allan rules of the game.

"Oh, uh, okay." Colette stared down hard at her cards and frowned in concentration. "Um... let's see... do you have any threes?"

"Yes." Yuan pulled both of his threes and handed them to Colette, who squealed in delight and took them from him. She then pulled out both of her threes and neatly stacked them in a foursome next to her lap.

"It's still your turn." He pointed out. Colette blinked, looked down at her cards and then stared at him again.

"Do you... have any queens?"

"Yes." Beginner's luck, surely.

"What about... a jack?"

"... here."

"Um... twos?"

Ah, finally something he didn't have.

"Go fish."

"Okay." Colette reached out, snagged the top card of the remaining deck and brought it up to her face.

"Ooh, I got a two." She beamed and tucked it away with its twin.

'... you've got to be kidding.'

"Your turn, Mister Yuan." She chirped, blonde curls of hair bouncing about her face. Yuan winced. Every time she said 'Mister Yuan', he felt like a dottering old man who needed a cane and a jar of prunes. While he understood and appreciated respect and titles of people on a higher tier, there was a fine line between respect and just feeling wrinkly.

He banished those thoughts for the moment for the sake of the game and examined what was left of his cards.

"Fours?" He inquired, lamenting his cards, as they had been ravaged by one wee five year old.

"Hm..." Colette stared at her cards sternly, or as sternly as someone so perky could. "Mister Yuan-"

There it was again. The 'Mister' title, which was short for 'Mister, did you forget where you parked your rheiard?' Yuan inwardly cringed and broke his gaze from his cards so he locked eyes with the teensy acolyte, emerald on sapphire.

"Chosen, you do not need to be so strict with the formalities and titles. Yuan is fine." He stated calmly, his hand still firmly gripping his cards.

'Mister' makes me sound old.' He sighed, taking another look at his cards, none of which looked promising. 'I'll admit I am a bit on the older side, but I'd rather not rub it in all the time. It's detrimental to my work ethic.'

"Oh, okay." Colette blinked and then grinned at him. "Well, you don't need to call me Chosen either. Colette's much better."

"I see. If it is what you would prefer, I shall refrain from consciously referring to you as 'Chosen'." Yuan responded respectfully. It seemed only fair that if she did not use such a title, he would attempt to do the same.

"Thanks." Colette looked down at her hand of cards and then peered up at him again.

"Yuan?"

"Hm?"

"Go fish."

* * *

"Hey, it's that Katz from before!" Lloyd pointed to the blue miniature katz that stood off to the side of the bridge, surrounded by a gaggle of children. "And he's playing 'Red Light Green Light' again." Wheeling around, the pint sized boy bounced over to Kratos' side and stood on the tips of his brown leather shoes so he was perhaps an inch taller.

"Can I play? Please?" He asked hopefully, his cherry irises staring into where he guessed Kratos' eye would be behind his curtain of auburn hair. "I didn't get to play last time because the Professor said I was too old and had to be 'difnigied'." Kratos looked at the boy tiredly, sighed and turned his eyes upward so all he saw was sky and the occasional gull. In complete earnest, he agreed with Lloyd's ruin obsessed professor about how dignity and this sort of recreation would never coincide. If he was to stop Yggdrasill and defeat Cruxis, a little self respect wouldn't hurt.

"It's 'dignified'." He corrected strictly, not taking his eyes away from the steel blue sky. "And we do not have time for silly games-"

"Pretty please?" The first grader pleaded, his round eyes boring a hole in the angelic swordsman. "I really like this game and I only got to play a few times even when I was a real little kid."

Kratos raised an eyebrow. While he didn't, nor would he, admit it, the last part of Lloyd's desperate plea piqued what was left of his curiosity. If this game had truly been his favorite, it made little to no sense that he only participated in it only a few choice times.

"Why is that?" Kratos inquired, his attention focused on the boy and his arms folded against the belts on his chest. "If it is your favorite game, why did you not indulge in playing it when you were younger?"

Lloyd suddenly grew silent and forlornly looked to the side, no longer wanting to meet Kratos' scrutinizing gaze.

"... the other kids in town didn't let me to play." He murmured, scuffing his shoe along the ground. "They said that outsiders who were raised by dwarves would just screw it up. I played a few times with Genis and Colette, but Colette didn't get a lot of free time and all because she had to do all those church rituals and rites, and it wasn't very fun with just the two of us..." His tone trailed away into a whisper and eventually shut itself off. Silence then drowned the space between the two, the laughter of the group of children, the waves and the shrieking calls of gulls the only sounds leaking through.

He hadn't shown it, but a sharp stab of guilt had hit Kratos straight in the chest and he glanced at the disappointed boy, who peered longingly at the katz and other children before he shifted his eyes back to the stone surface of the bridge floor. Lloyd, since he was raised by a dwarf, didn't have the best time fitting in with the children from the Village of Oracles. According from what his half elf friend had hinted and the Chosen blatantly told him when Lloyd was off gathering fire materials, the boy had faced one obstacle over another, from being shunned by the other children to even being tossed out by the mayor for trying to save someone in need.

While it was better than any life Kratos could have given him on Derris Kharlan, with no one to really talk to, no children who he could play with, and no fresh air, he still knew that Lloyd had not had an easy road growing up. Thus, the parental stabs of guilt were slowly sinking their way farther into his psyche, slashing his conscious as they went.

Kratos sighed. Appeasing the guilt ridden pangs meant letting Lloyd play and, while he really did want to get across most of the bridge before night fell, he felt that perhaps a few minutes sacrificed wouldn't be such a horrible atrocity in the grand scheme of things. Brushing his hair out of his face, the angel strode over to the side of the bridge and placed his arms on the railing so he faced out towards the ocean.

"Kratos?" Lloyd blinked in confusion, having watched him move off to the edge of the bridge.

"Fine, go have fun." He relented tiredly, his hair falling once again into his face. "However, make it quick. Time is of the essence."

"Really?" Lloyd instantly perked up and he beamed like the sun powered his lilliputian face. "Thanks, Kratos!" Flipping his scarf over his shoulder, the first grader wheeled around and dove towards the Katz and kids, his face pink with excitement.

'... silly boy.' The ancient swordsman thought as he rested more of his weight on his forearms against the side of the railing on the gigantic bridge. 'Ah well, I suppose waiting ten more minutes won't be too detrimental to my schedule.' Kratos looked over his shoulder at the game, as a little girl in pink had snagged the powder blue tail of the Katz and won the first game, which he gathered to be a practice round. Although he didn't seem to be able to go two 'red light's in a row without unconsciously fidgeting and being sent back to the start line, Lloyd seemed to thoroughly enjoying himself, his wind kissed cheeks pink from running back and forth along the cobbled stones. The angelic lord observed him for a while as he played, and then turned his attention back to the ocean, the sound of waves lapping against the side of the bridge echoing in his ears.

'While he does act like the original teenage Lloyd, with the airs and personality traits of his former self, I wonder if this type of behavior is a result of his newfound size.' Kratos pondered as a particularly fat seagull soared by. 'Whatever caused him to revert in his physical development might also be hindering his emotional and mental growth as well.' Kratos paused a moment, snorted at himself and shook his head, his auburn hair swinging into his face.

'Or, perhaps, this is merely Lloyd being Lloyd and his shift in age appearance is merely coincidental-'

"Kratos?" the older man looked up from where he stared out at the sea and noticed his son standing right next to him, his cherry eyes shining with fervor.

"Are you finished?" Kratos asked, noting that the katz had left the gaggle of schoolchildren to peer off the pier.

"Well uh.." Lloyd fidgeted with his scarf and wrapped the white cloth around his fingers in a weaving motion as he locked eyes with the powerful seraphim. "The other kids and I were wondering if, uh... you would play with us."

Kratos blinked.

"... what?"

"The Katz got too tired, so we were kinda hoping you would play." Lloyd repeated, nodding in added confirmation while he gestured to the collective pile of school kids. Kratos sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Lloyd, that is a children's game. And as you have probably guessed by now, I am not a-"

"Please? It's just one game and we don't have anyone to say 'red light' and 'green light'. You don't have to do anything special, just stand there, turn around and then turn back again." The spiky haired six year old explained energetically. "It's real easy."

"No."

"Aww, c'mon!" Lloyd groused hotly. "You can't always be inscrutable!"

"..." Kratos raised an eyebrow at him, which made it abundantly clear what he was thinking.

'I can if I wish to be.'

Heaving a huge sigh, Lloyd folded his arms across his chest and sneaked a peek at the other actual kids, who were growing impatient.

"Please? One game and then we can go." The squirt then offered, his chestnut tresses waving to the side thanks to the wind. Upon hearing the 'go' part of the boy's sentence, Kratos raised an eyebrow and closed his eyes, going over his options. He could either play the game and mildly damage his pride, or he could refuse and send Lloyd into a very cranky stupor, which would then spiral into a form of verbal indignation and he would hear about it for the next six to eight hours.

'Avoiding further animosity from him would be pleasant indeed.' He mused wryly, his arms crossed against his chest. One game probably wouldn't hurt his prowess too much. Besides, who was going to find out? No one in Cruxis would have any way of discovering his lack of dignity and he certainly was not going to tell a soul. Also, the thought of being able to go without having to tear Lloyd from his game with little to no confrontation did sound rather appealing. While he really did want to avoid participating in such a childish game, he knew from years of militaristic duty that sometimes a few battles here and there had to be lost in order to win the war.

"If it will get you to wrap up your game session.. I will play." He finally relented, taking his arms off the railing and resting his left hand back on it's proper place at his sword hilt.

"Awesome!" Lloyd pumped his fist into the air in victory, snagged Kratos' right hand and pulled him over towards the group of children. Kratos let himself be dragged for the most part, mostly because he didn't feel inclined to guess exactly where his young charge wanted him to stand during the game.

"Okay, just stand there and do what the katz did." Lloyd instructed and ran back towards the other children, who had already created a horizontal line on the other end of the square. Kratos nodded curtly, as he had figured out the rules from watching one round of the game and turned around so his back was to the children.

"Green Light." He waited for about a minute, watching a grey cloud go by. The sound of scuffling shoes across the stone echoed brilliantly due to his angelic hearing and after a minute or so, he'd figured that was long enough.

"Red Light."

In an instant, all of the shoe scuffling stopped. Kratos observed all five kids as they stood like pink fleshy statues, daring not to move a muscle. No one he saw moved, so he pivoted on the spot and faced the opposite direction.

"Green Light."

The echoing of shoes clicking around picked back up on the bridge, some growing closer than others. Kratos waited for about thirty seconds the next time, counting to ten and then closed his eyes.

"Red Light." Opening them about halfway, the angelic swordsman observed each of the children's movements, from the girl in the far corner who had bent down to fix her shoe to Lloyd, who was attempted to both fix his shirt, balance on one foot and not fall on his face at the same time, all without moving. However, his job of not moving was falling short, as his lock of rebellious hair was tickling the tip of his nose and making him wobble.

"Lloyd."

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked and looked up from where he was balancing.

"Back to the start line. You moved."

"Aw." Lloyd trotted back to the start line and waited, his white scarf flopped about his shoulders. Kratos eyed the other kids as well to make sure they had not also moved and turned around once again.

"Green Light."

The game continued like that for about twenty minutes, children advancing forward and being sent back. Lloyd was sent back three times, Kratos had counted, but the others were just as antsy and kept being banished to the start line as well. It finally got to the point that the angelic swordsman was no longer paying attention to who was in the lead, only checking for signs of movement.

"Red Light." He looked over his shoulder at the children who had gone all over the place in order to avoid his gaze, shook his head when he saw no signs of motion and returned his gaze to the sky in the other direction.

"Green Light-" Before he had the chance to turn around, a body bluntly collided with his own and two hands latched around his torso in one swift motion, their fingers latching together. Any normal person would have been thrown off balance by the sheer force of the tackle. However, since Kratos wasn't exactly what most would call a 'normal person', he merely turned his gaze downward and raised an eyebrow at his would be assailant.

"Gotcha!" Lloyd glowed as he clung to Kratos' waist, a huge grin plastered on his face. Kratos' other eyebrow matched the first in being raised and he blinked in astonishment.

Whether or not he realized it, Lloyd was hugging him.

And he wasn't sick or unconscious.

"That you do." The older man nodded shortly in agreement, his eyes still locked on the boyish arms that had clamped onto his torso.

Thankfully though, Lloyd had taken no notice from the startled expression on his older companion's face. He instead let go, grinned at Kratos again and scratched his cheek with his index finger as the fact he had just won his favorite game began to fully sink in.

"I won!" Lloyd spontaneously bounced up and down in jubilant glee when he completely realized his victory, his scarf billowing around his face. "I actually won! I've never won that game before."

"So it would seem." Kratos replied, recovering from his lapse of composure. "Now, I've participated in one game. Are you satisfied?"

"Yeah! Let's go to Sybak!" Waving to the other children, Lloyd swung the straps of his backpack on his shoulders and bounded down the bridge, the fact that he just won his favorite game enthralling him completely. Kratos watched the first grader go, exhaled shallowly and shook his head.

'Simple pleasures, I suppose.' He mused as he traveled after the half sized twin swordsman, who had shifted from sprinting to walking with a spring in his step.

While he would never have admitted it to either worlds, heaven, hell or all those who lived in it, Kratos had actually enjoyed being 'it'.

* * *

"Oy, Sheena!" Zelos' boyish voice called from the stairs that led down into the large black pit with the glowing lights. "How many do you have of those weird jello things? I found another one!" The miniature ninja looked up at Zelos from where she stood on the large glowing platform at the center of the room and noticed the bouncing blue orb that hovered in the Shadow piece like a beach ball in water.

"Um... let's see..." Sheena glanced around at the main platform where they had been collecting the fragments of Shadow and frowned.

"I've got three of them down here!" She called loudly, which made Zelos' ears ring. He staggered back, stumbled over the blob of Shadow, and rubbed his forehead with his hand, his blue eyes crossed.

"Yeesh, maybe you should say that a little louder, I'm not sure if they heard you in Sylvarant." He winced, slapping the sides of his face to get the ringing to stop. Sheena glared at Zelos crankily and folded her arms against her chest.

"Keep your comments to yourself and help me out over here." She called hotly and resumed scoping out the lower levels of the Temple of Darkness. The Temple of Darkness most certainly lived up to its name, due to the blackness of it all, and all that did was make it exponentially harder to locate the fifth and final piece of Shadow that lurked in the pitch black structure.

Once Zelos deposited the fourth blob on the space below, reassuring its cooperation with a commanding 'stay!', he too joined her on her scoping of the lower areas. However, as an hour passed them both by, neither came up with anything even remotely helpful.

"Urgh, why is it so hard to find anything in this stinking temple?" Sheena groaned exasperatedly, flopping on the cold, hard stone for a breather. Zelos ran a hand through his hair and shrugged, leaning against a wall.

"It's probably because it's called the Temple of Darkness. It's a Temple... filled with Darkness." He replied loftily, his head rested firmly against the wall. "Kinda goes with the territory, don't ya think?" Sheena nodded tiredly and pinched the bridge of her nose with her gloved hands. She had no idea how long they had been in there, but all she really wanted at that point was to get out and see the sun. The minute summoner cracked open an eye and surveyed her surroundings, or at the least, what she could see of them.

"You think anyone'd willingly live here?" She asked Zelos offhandedly, her attention taken up by a few of the shadow fragments who were bumping into each other. Zelos glanced up at the large main chamber and snorted, his brilliant red hair falling into his face.

"Only if they had an unhealthy infatuation with not being able to see. And let's face it, only a complete and total nutball would obsess with the dark." The chosen replied. Sheena snorted in skepticism and rolled her eyes, though the darkness hid most of the cynical effect.

"You sure you're not talking about yourself?" She retorted coolly. Raising an eyebrow, the chosen sighed, brought up his hands in exasperation and shook his head, obviously pitying Sheena for her lack of understanding.

"Oh hey. It's not the darkness itself I like, it's what I can get away with IN said darkness." Zelos responded slyly, his hands firmly planted on his hips as he laughed. Sheena's eyes narrowed at him and she scoffed in annoyance, folding her arms tightly against her flat chest.

"Y'know, that lecherous laugh you have just sounds creepy when it's in your kid voice." The little summoner added, eying him with an abhorrent amount of disapproval. Zelos sighed, as she had blatantly not seen the humor in his joke, shrugged and rested his hands behind his head.

"Ooh, touchy, touchy." Zelos turned his gaze upward towards the arched ceiling of the Temple, but paused when a glint of purple caught his gaze just beyond the stairs.

"Hey, what's that?" He stretched out one of his bubblegum pink sleeves and pointed his slender index finger at the glowing orb. Sheena looked to where he pointed and her eyes widened, her face in a wide grin.

"I think.. I think that's the last one!" She bounded to her feet and pumped a fist in the air. "We found it! Just a little closer to seeing the sun again!"

Zelos raised an eyebrow at her.

"You really don't like the dark, do you?" Sheena shot him a fierce glare and turned her attention back towards the last shadow piece. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the summon entity sat lazily on a block of indigo stone, one that was too high up for her to reach. She frowned. Apparently, just because the pair of school kids had located the summon spirit did not mean that it was going to be a piece of cake in retrieving aforementioned spirit. However, that was not about to slow her down. The pint sized summoner swung around, pivoting on the ball of her left foot and faced Zelos head on.

"Zelos, go get it!" She commanded heartily, her finger still aloft in the direction of the final Shadow fragment.

"What? Why me?" Zelos protested, his eyes laced with exasperation. "Why can't you do it?

"Because I won't be tall enough to reach and you're not doing anything, so hop to it!" Sheena gave him a boot in the behind towards the shadowy veil and pointed again. The red headed seven year old yelped out a howl of pain and rubbed his injured rear before he shot a pained look over at her in an attempt to gain some argument ground.

"Hey, I'm gonna have a bit of a hard time getting it too. We all shrank remember and just because I'm an eensy bit taller than you-" Zelos' angle was cut short when the daggers that Sheena had sent him from her demonic glare hit him square in the chest and made his lunch curdle.

"Alright, alright, don't get your bow in a knot, I'll go, sheesh." Zelos grumbled and, pushing up his flamingo pink sleeves of his trench coat, the undersized chosen trudged up the stairs and across the room to where the bouncing orb floated. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the final shadow fragment sat precariously on a block of blue stone, which was located directly downward on a narrow ledge on the top level of the main area. Zelos also noticed that another face block set was right next to the block that was being used as a cushion for the summon spirit, but since he was tired, cranky and his rear hurt from Sheena kicking it, he didn't want to waste his time going around in an attempt to find its twin.

So instead, the dinky boy ran around the upper floor, down the short flight of stairs where two more faces peered at him ominously, and jumped down onto the desolate ledge. Zelos stretched once again, pulling each of her arms across his torso so he didn't pull anything and glared at the blob that bounced up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. He sighed exhaustedly, silently praying that once this was all over he would be allowed by the almighty banshee to take a cat nap, and strode over towards the block. Zelos then hooked a leg up onto the block and gingerly climbed up onto the brick, his white capri pants scuffing along the carved etching.

"Heeere, creepy Shadow thingy, Heeere, creepy, slimy, roachy Shadow thingy..." The diminished casanova coaxed while on his palms and knees, his left hand outstretched. Further out on the stone he crawled, yet with each inch he gained, the spirit floated away just out of reach.

"Oh, come on, you rain cloud wannabe-"

It was at that point that Zelos realized that gravity did, in fact, work.

The block, which had decided that it apparently didn't like Zelos squirming around in an attempt to snatch the shadow segment, tipped to the side and leaned dangerously towards the edge of the alcove, it's corner matching that of the stone pedestal.

"Wh-whoa-WAH!" Zelos yelped and clung to the sides of the square stone, his fingers digging into the blue black material. Due to the final sudden shift of balance or lack thereof, the block then toppled over the edge, sending the boy, the summon spirit and its perch tumbling over the side and collided with the hard ground with a sickening crunch.

"... ow.."

"Alright, I'll bite. What happened?" The dulcet and deadpan tones of one Sheena the six year old flooded his ears.

"Fell... ow..." Zelos croaked, as he looked up at her and saw five upside down Sheena heads floating around in an oval pattern.

"Ah. Is the Shadow fragment okay?" The ninja craned her neck around him, more preoccupied with finding the last piece of her future pact partner.

Zelos blinked and stared at her disbelievingly.

"... I'm dying here and all you can think about is the stupid Shadow thing?"

"You'll live. Besides, I don't want to track down another set of Shadow fragments if you managed to bust it with your behind." Sheena shrugged and rested her hands on her hips.

".. evil... pure evil...demonic... banshee..." Zelos grumbled as he also noted his feet were swung around near his head so he was eye level with his shoes. Whether or not she was supposed to hear his comment, it had passed her ears, making the bitty summoner's eyes flash violently and she eyed Zelos with a killer stare that would have butchered a chimera from twenty feet away.

"What was that?" She demanded as her fist curled and reached back behind her threateningly.

"Nothing!" Zelos squawked, having pulled himself out of his upside down position on the floor and readjusting his askew headband. "Anyway, let's lasso these guys together and get them down into that chasm."

"Right, but how are we going to do this?" Sheena asked, now that the fifth piece was reacquainting itself with its long lost comrades, which all then responded by body slamming it. "They don't seem the type to want to all work together just because we ask nicely."

"If we just try to lead them down without a strategy, they'll just run every which way and then we'll have to go Shadow hunting again. I'd rather pass on that, thanks a bin." The miniscule ladies man replied, picking a stray piece of rubble out of his hair. Sighing to herself, Sheena glanced up at Zelos again and pointed to the rest of the shadow hunks.

"Yeah, you've got a point. Any ideas?" She inquired, wincing as two more of the shadow fragments dogpiled each other. "I'm fresh out." Her scarlet headed counterpart thought for a moment, his hand on his chin, and punched his fist right into his hand.

"What if one of us is in front and the other behind?" Zelos suggested, lazily flicking the back of his hand at the bickering shadow fragments. "One person could go ahead, chase off the monsters below off, while the other herds the shadow pieces from behind to make sure that they don't run off. Then, the person in front can head them off if they get too frisky and try to stray away farther down."

"That's not half a bad idea, even for you. But do you think it'll work?" Sheena asked skeptically, eyeing her counterpart warily. Zelos sniffed, rubbed his nose and looked over at the gaggle of shadow pieces, who were all trying to do a rendition of a cheerleaders pyramid. Whether or not it had been intentional, however, was still up for discussion.

"It'd be easier to herd a pack of Lloyds into a tomato factory, but we don't have a ton of options right now. Alright, let's get this on the road.." Both Zelos and Sheena winced when the pile of Shadows fell to the ground in a heap and covered the ground in a misty blackness, which the five orbs then tried to escape from.

"So to speak."

"Alright, let's give it a go." Sheena relented, quickly counting five orbs in the puddle of summon spirit. Biting his lip, the second grade swordsman stretched his neck so he could see the passage below a tiny inkling better and looked back at her.

"I'll go down ahead and scout out to see if the coast is clear. I'll give you the signal once they're all gone, mmkay?" Zelos saluted Sheena with his left hand and raced down the ramped stone, the curls of his crimson hair fading into the blackness. Once he was firmly out of sight, Sheena groaned and corralled all of the shadow fragments into a closely knit circle of smoky smog. She then heaved another sigh and sat on the ground with a flump, her shadowy friends surrounding her.

"What kinda signal is he going to give me?" Sheena mused aloud and poked the summon fragment with her finger. . Ten minutes passed by slowly and Sheena's patience was dangerously running thin.

"He'd better have a good excuse for taking this long." She growled crankily, glaring at the depths. "And if he's just meandering around down there, I'm gonna kick his-"

"POLO!"

Sheena blinked and looked down at the indigo stained ramp that sank into the lower catacombs of the temple of darkness.

"...polo?"

"No, no, you're supposed to yell 'MARCO'!" "It's part of the game, dummy!" The voice chastised loudly from the dark depths below.

"Hey, I'm not a dummy-" Sheena called back hotly, her ponytail puff frilling out behind her head.

"Yell 'MARCO'!"

"Ugh, fine. 'MARCO'! I'm not a dummy and what kind of game is this?" She demanded loudly, her arms tightly folded against her flat chest.

"POLO! It's a game from Meltokio, where kids play it and try to find each other in the dark. Pretty fitting, eh? It's a game where you yell MARCO, 'cause you're looking for me and I yell back 'POLO, so you can find me." Zelos' voice chorused from down the ramp in a sing song trill. Rolling her eyes, the small scale summoner rounded up all of the sections of Shadow, did a head count and nodded to herself when she noted five glowing orbs.

"I guess, but I've never heard of a game like this before-"

"I didn't hear 'MARCO'!"

"I'll give you a 'MARCO' right in the face if you don't knock it off!"

"'POLO'! You've gotta find me first!"

"Why you-"

"Found me." Zelos grinned at her, his hands stuffed precariously in his coat pockets. Sheena blinked, looked around at her herd of five Shadow spirits and her mouth fell open.

"I can't believe.. that actually worked." The pint sized summoner gaped.

"Told you it would. Now then..." Zelos trotted off towards the narrow stretch of deep blue stone and headed down another ramp, leaving Sheena alone again with her gaggle of summon spirits. Ten minutes later, a 'POLO' echoed from below and the petite assassin navigated all of the spirits gingerly down the path, counting five orbs every minute to make sure that no one had gone off on a joy float.

"MARCO!" Sheena shouted through the depths of the chasm below to signify that she was on the move with her wispy cavalry.

"POLO! So, what do we do when we put old Shadow breath back together again?" Zelos voice trailed out from the darkness.

"MARCO! First thing's first. We get out of here and get back into the sun." Sheena responded, batting another shadow fragment into place, as it had tried to make a break for a nearby passage way.

"POLO! I figured that, but then what?" The chosen asked again, his tone sounding exasperated. Sheena snorted annoyedly at him and herded more of the shadowy veils across another platform towards the stairs.

"MARCO! I say we go back to Meltokio and see if they have any results back on our tests." She suggested curtly, her raven bangs flitting into her face.

"POLO! Y'know, I was wondering about that.."

"MARCO! What?"

"POLO! You think the guys in Altamira might know anything about that?"

"MARCO! I dunno. Maybe they might, but all of that information would be in the Lezareno company's archives. Not an easy place to break into."

"POLO! We don't need to break into that, remember? We have Regal, Mister President himself. If we get his go ahead, we could get in no sweat."

"MARCO! Only one problem with that. Regal's gone MIA, remember? How can we get in if we haven't even found him, let alone Presea or Genis or Raine yet?"

"POLO! Gah, you've got a point there. Though, knowing Regal, he's probably found a way to get back to somewhere that would be populated. Maybe it would be a good idea to get in touch with Altamira, see if they know anything. He'd probably at least let George, his number one minion, know what's going on, if anyone else."

"MARCO! That's not a bad idea. They have communicator equipment at the Elemental Research Laboratory. When we go back, we should see if they'll let us use it."

"POLO! Sounds like a plan. After that, we should call Bud and see what the lowdown is on the old dude. See if he managed to wriggle any info out of him."

"MARCO! Yeah, maybe Lloyd's seen something and-"

"Sheena."

"Huh?" The six year old summoner stopped in her tracks and glanced over at the direction of Zelos' voice, only to be met with the actual Zelos, body and all.

"You didn't say 'Polo'." The shrunken chosen glanced back at her and then stretched out a hand towards the circular room at the very bottom of the stairs.

"That's 'cause we're here." His finger landed on the intricate indigo designs on the floor of the summoning chamber and rolled his eyes at Sheena. Sheena blushed. In all of her planning on what to do next, she had taken absolutely no notice in the fact that she had inadvertently meandered right into Shadow's domain.

"I-I knew that." She tried covering up her embarrassment with defiance. Zelos raised an eyebrow at her, not buying her cover for a second and looked over her shoulder at the blobs of shadow that bobbed up and down in place.

"Well, get going." He pointed. "We don't have all year, y'know." All five of the glowing orbs shifted in Zelos' direction, glimmered brightly as if they were signifying their collected annoyance with him and slid across the floor towards the center of the room. Upon reaching the very center of the room, the globs of summon spirit essence molded into each other in the gazebo like structure on the far side of the room. Upon their conglomeration, the room began to shake violently, a cloud of purple black smoke emanating from the gazebo in a spiral. Directly from the spiral of smoke, two flashes of light blinked, thoroughly blinding both school kids.

"Ack.. ow." Zelos groaned, rubbing his eyes with his trench coat sleeve. When they were both done seeing a colorful array of spots float across their eyes, the image of a fully fledged Shadow met their gazes. Shadow, who looked like he had sprung out of one of the Professor's suspense novels, stared them both down, his fervent silence adding tremendously to his intimidating continence.

"Mithos and I... pact.." He uttered in a low hiss, his voice raspy from years of solitude. Swallowing hard as the towering spirit watched her with a scrutinizing gaze, Sheena strode forward and tried to hold her head up high, though what she really wanted to do was pass out. However, losing consciousness would not exactly help her gain the respect or pact from the sinister looking spirit, so that whole option was out of the picture entirely.

"I am Sheena. I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me." She stated seriously, her eyebrows angled down in a stony expression. Shadow seemed frozen in his place under the gazebo, the edges of his form swirling around like smoke from a dying campfire. As the full emptiness of sound filled the room, Sheena's insides turned sour and the silence began to eat at her.

"Wh-what?" The summoner asked uneasily, losing a bit of her edge. Shadow slid closer and peered down at her, the blue slits that were supposedly his eyes fixed directly in her direction.

"... short."

Sheena's ponytail puff bristled.

"I'm not that short!" She protested tersely. Shadow's unwavering gaze continued examining her, while the eye that clung to his waist area shifted from side to side.

"...alone?"

"I'm not fighting alone." Sheena shook her head and hooked a thumb over at Zelos, who was humming to himself while fiddling with a lock of his hair. "I brought this bum."

"Hey!" The second grader acolyte shot her a hurt expression, his fingers never once leaving his crimson curls. Sheena matched his hurt look with a stuck out tongue and glared back. The summon spirit of darkness, paying no mind to either of the children, flexed his three fingered hands and peered around the chamber in search for other signs of life.

"... Only two... why..."

"Uh.. well.. we kinda got separated from our friends and besides, Mithos fought by himself, so I want to try it too." Sheena explained, staring up at the towering spirit. Shadow paused and if he had an eyebrow, he would have raised it.

"... Mithos... not alone..."

Sheena blinked, her eyes the size of dinner plates, and even Zelos glanced away from his hair in surprise.

"What? What do you mean?" The six year old summoner asked, knee deep in bewilderment as she scratched the side of her head with a gloved hand. "Gnome said he fought alone." Shadow shook his head once, gestured to Sheena with one of his thick fingers and then to Zelos with the same finger.

".. Mithos... friends..."

Sheena's face turned redder than Zelos' hair.

"Friends? You mean he had help?" She demanded, her puff standing spike straight out like that of the tail of a startled cat. "How many did he have helping him?"

"... Matters... not." Shadow lumbered forward and lifted his arm at the pair once again, though it was in a pointing fashion.

"... fight..." He hissed darkly.

"Urgh, fine." Sheena grumbled, pulled out her cards and held them at the ready. "But when I win, you tell me what happened."

"...fine... show your strength..."

"Here we go!" Sheena called and dodged out of the way as a dark fist came slamming down on the ground where she had been standing. A bit slower on the uptake, Zelos drew his sword just in time to register the large hulking form of Shadow descend upon his person, his cloaked body the very essence of darkness. Eyes widening in shock, Zelos jumped back and peered up at the gigantic summon spirit, the blood in his veins gone cold and his brain function off on holiday.

"... polo?"

* * *

**Woohoo, chapter is now complete.**

**Lloyd: Sybak next then?**

**Me: Maybe.**

**Lloyd: Maybe? What do you mean 'maybe'?**

**Me: I mean, maybe I'll say, maybe I won't. It depends.**

**Lloyd: Depends on what?**

**Me: Find me subs of the newest OVA episode and then we'll talk.**

**Lloyd: Kratos!**

**Kratos: What is it?**

**Lloyd: We're going to find subs, right now!**

**Kratos:... this again.**

**Lloyd: *drags off Kratos to go find subs***

**Me: In the meantime, please review!**


	14. Mana Mysteries

**Hey, everyone! I'm back and with me I brought a new chapter.**

**Genis: Man, that was fast. Did you find the subs yet?**

**Me: Unfortunately my search has been fruitless as of right now. I know I was supposed to wait until after I found the subs, but patience has never been my strong suit.**

**Lloyd: That's not always a bad thing.**

**Me: Exactly. **

**So, thanks to all of you who favorited, alerted, read and so forth. I shower you with cookies. And thank you so much to ThePurpleRose, freakyanimegal, AngelofaWhiteNight, silent romantic, Destiny's Light, Kiomori, Amekoryuu and RuneNeko for reviewing! You guys all rock!**

**Also, I have a special and highly important announcement to make once this chapter is done.**

**Lloyd: What kind of special announcement?**

**Me: You'll see... oh yes, you will.**

**Disclaimer: I own not the Tales of Symphonia franchise, for if I did, I would... aw heck, I think I know what'd I do.**

**Genis: What?**

**Me: Bliss out and gloat in a hammock.**

**Genis: Oh.**

**Me: But as I own neither, it's a moot point. **

Chapter Fourteen: Mana Mysteries

"'Fight alone', you said!" Zelos bellowed as he landed roughly on the ground, his sword swung back behind his head. "'Let him reunite', you said! Now here we are getting are asses handed to us by the stupid prince of darkness!"

"Oh, shut up and fight already!" Sheena snarled back, hammering a pyre seal straight into the summon spirit's side, which left a sizable burn mark. For the good part of a half an hour, both the diminished chosen and ninja had been exchanging blows against the mysterious summon spirit of darkness and while they did their best, Shadow was wiping the floor with them.

"Y'know, I bet I know why he was broken into pieces!" The dinky chosen squawked as a particularly nasty darkness spell grazed his face. "It's probably easier to hide under little kids' beds when he's smaller!"

"He looks like the boogie man and we're just primed and ready twerps for him to snack on!" Zelos froze and turned an unhealthy shade of gray, his eyes dilating sharply.

"He's gonna squish us and then use our entrails to redecorate!" He squalled, diving out of the way as Shadow lunged at him like a cat would on just about anything that moved. The short boy rolled along the ground, screeched to a halt thanks to the soles of his shoes and crouched on the ground. Digging his heels into the floor, Zelos sprang forward, his sword held aloft with both of his peewit hands latched around the hilt.

"Light Spear!" He bellowed, driving his sword right into the flank of the summon spirit. A flash of light struck the otherwise dank summoning chamber and all three recoiled by the light, Sheena shielding her eyes in pain and Zelos falling flat on his behind.

"Yeowch, that smarted." Zelos groaned, gingerly dragging himself up from the floor. The other school kid nodded, though she couldn't see because of the flash and her hands trying to protect her eyes. After a minute or so, Sheena removed her hands from her eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes to focus. Though, when she did, she saw that she wasn't the only one who was having trouble readjusting.

Even though the grade schoolers were both seeing spots and dots of swirling color dancing in their eyes, Shadow had taken it much worse, his deep indigo pools of smoky darkness a puff of light lavender. Although the light had done some serious damage, Shadow didn't seem like he was about to throw in the towel just yet. Lumbering forward, he stretched both of his claw like hands in front of him and fumbled around, trying to get a sense on where they both stood.

"Zelos, I think that did a lot more damage to him them the other stuff!" Sheena dove out of the way of a blinded swipe and snapped her fingers in revelation.

"Of course! He's the summon spirit of darkness, so he doesn't like light!"

Zelos stared at her incredulously.

"It took you that long to figure that out?" He demanded, barely dodging a tendril of smoke that slammed down into the ground inches from where he had been standing.

"Light Spear!" Zelos shoved the tip of his sword into Shadow's hand and light erupted from the hilt again, causing Shadow's hand and the rest of him for that matter to recoil back in pain.

"Shut your trap and keep doing that!" Sheena shot back, having scooted herself farther away and planted both of her feet firmly on the polished indigo stone floor. "Distract him while I summon!"

Zelos swiped another blow against the enormous creature, though all he managed to do was let Shadow know where he was. The summon spirit slammed his left limb into the side of Zelos' head, set him flying into the air and sent him hurtling to the ground, which he landed upon with a dull thud. Groaning softly, the boyish chosen pulled himself up, rubbed his head with one hand and squinted at Sheena.

"Alright, but if I get killed by the smog king, I'll come back to haunt you and it'll be your fault!" He called, picking his sword off the ground and holding at the ready.

"Yeah, yeah, stuff it and get to 'light spear'ing! Sheena screeched in reply from her summoning circle. Zelos glared at her, but nodded anyway and proceeded to 'Light Spear' with all he had, bounding from left to right and back again. As he attempted to lure the hulking creature of smoke, the summoning circle under Sheena's shoes grew bright white and she aligned her thumb and forefingers together in the shape of a triangle.

"I call upon..." The minute summoner began to chant, but cut herself off mid sentence.

".. Aw crap, I don't have that summon yet!" Sheena blanched.

Zelos' jaw dropped.

"How could you forget that?" Zelos demanded as he gaped at her in exasperation. As he was too far occupied with trying to stave off breaking down into a exhausted heap, the puny swordsman didn't pay notice the hulking mass of pure blackness that lumbered towards him.

".. Crumble..."

The miniature chosen shot his head up just in time to see a gigantic hand lunge at him, its claw like fingers extended and at the ready. Zelos squeaked out a yell of horror as the fingers descended upon him, but his air was cut off when the hand snatched the chosen around the middle, pinning his arms to his sides, and hoisted him into the air. Once his mind actually registered what was going on, Zelos slowly but surely wrenched his sword arm, with the sword still attached, out of the stranglehold and defended against a nasty dark attack that would have rendered him unconscious otherwise.

"Summon something else already!" Zelos shrieked as he fended off Shadow's other hand by poking at it with his sword while he hung suspended via the shadowy creature's grasp. "Anything and hurry!"

"Alright, keep your head on!" Sheena shouted back, her hands still aloft in the triangle summoning formation.

"I'm trying!" The pint sized chosen squawked, waving his sword up and down like a mad man, fending off an attack aimed for his head. The circle underneath her feet grew a bright brown color, much like that of Lloyd's hair, and emanated light of the same hue up towards the ceiling.

"I call upon the Servant of Mother Earth, I summon thee, come, Gnome!" Sheena thrust her hand into the air and another flash blared into the summoning chamber, blinding the room and everyone in it.

"Yahoo!" The voice of one Gnome the summon spirit of earth echoed through the air and was then shortly followed by the appearance of the jovial and rather blunt summon spirit. The powerful spirit, who greatly resembled an overweight hamster with a propellor on its head, then came cascading from the top of the ceiling, flew through the air...

And landed right on top of Shadow.

"Aw, gotcha!" The bowed hamster grinned, sitting happily in the new crater he'd made in the floor. However, in his wake, all that was seen of Shadow was his arm, hand, and Zelos, who was still clutched in the now lax tripod of fingers, his eyes the size of the wheels of Nova's caravan.

"..." Sheena was between the points of screaming in horror, laughing until she fell down and passing out. However, too many signals were going through her brain, so all she did was stand there watching, still frozen in her stance from summoning.

"Oops, heh heh." Gnome looked down at what was left of Shadow, grinned sheepishly, his whiskers twitching, and bounded off where the summon spirit of darkness had been standing. Though, now he only looked like a spider after someone had taken a shoe to it.

Zelos, still rather wide eyed, crawled out from Shadow's limp grasp and held his hand to his chest, his heart beating out of control like a drum solo. Once he'd managed to slow down his heart before it jumped out of his chest and ran for the stairs, the fully freaked boy crouched down and craned his neck over to see what was the damage on the summon spirit of darkness.

All in all, Shadow didn't look too good. He had the basic appearance of an accordion that had been crushed in a trash compactor, and not a very kind trash compactor at that. Shuddering at what he would have looked like if it had been him that had been squashed, Zelos did what any self respecting seven year old would have done in that kind of situation.

He reached forward and poked Shadow with the tip of his sword.

"... dude, I think you killed him with your butt." Zelos grimaced when Shadow didn't react to the jab of the chosen's blade. Sheena looked thoroughly dismayed. How was she supposed to make a pact with a puddle of goo?

"... vow..."

The pile of Shadow may not have kicked the bucket, but after being beaten by being squished by another summon spirit, his urge to fight had flown out the window and he decided it wasn't worth the trouble anymore.

"Hey, he's not dead yet!" Zelos exclaimed, jabbing Shadow in the shoulder with his sword again just in case they had just heard Shadow's last moment.

"Zelos, stop poking him with your sword. I have a pact to make and I can't do that if you're standing there turning him into swiss cheese." Sheena poignantly sighed, pinching the slender bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. In response, the scarlet headed chosen looked over at her, then back at the slowly rising summon spirit and sighed dejectedly.

"You ruin all my fun." He sniffed, his face in a pout, but nonetheless moved out the way so Sheena could properly approach Shadow, or rather, what was left of him. Ignoring Zelos' dramatics, Sheena strode forward and held her head up high, her puff bouncing behind her head as she did so.

"For the sake of creating a place in which the two worlds no longer must sacrifice one another, I ask that you lend me your power." She stated seriously, her eyes on Shadow's rising form. The summon spirit said nothing as he reemerged, probably out of a mixture of habit and chagrin, but nodded in agreement.

"... agreed." His voice whispered in a gravelly hiss and a small orb of glowing purple light descended upon the middle of the summoning chamber, the lights of lavender and indigo swirling around the object in the middle, the ring symbolizing their pact. The tiny summoner held out her hand and caught the miniscule ring with her palm, it's purple gem dancing in the darkness. While the ring would have normally fit her just fine, her new and much smaller fingers had a harder time of keeping the Amethyst on, so she adapted to shifting it to her index finger instead.

"Now that's all over and done with, I have some questions for you. You said before I could ask... I think." Sheena planted both her hands on her hips and stared down the gigantic and thoroughly beaten spirit, who merely glanced at her with the blue slits he had for eyes.

"... fine..."

"What did you mean when you said that Mithos didn't fight alone?" The former assassin inquired. She had thought that since Gnome said that Mithos had been all alone when he fought, he had gotten any help with any of the others. Though, it seemed there was more to this than they were letting on.

"... friends..."

"So he did have friends giving him a hand." Zelos wrapped his pink clad arm around Sheena and grinned wryly. "Guess you were wrong, O omnipotent puffball." His breath was then cut short when Sheena sharply elbowed him in the stomach, which made him fall forward and collapse on the ground in a heap of Chosen goo.

"How many did he have?" Sheena asked curiously, her puff frilled in interest.

"... three..."

"And they helped him fight then?"

"... yes."

"Then how come Gnome said that he fought by himself?" Sheena demanded hotly, her puff frilling out so it looked like a puffer fish.

"That's 'cause he did, duh."

Both school kids whirled around to see that Gnome was still floating off in the far corner, his propellor like bow buzzing quietly as he flitted here and there and back again.

"What are you still doing here?" Zelos asked, his boyish face contorted in confusion. Gnome glanced over at Zelos, waved a bit to both of them and yawned into his stubby paw.

"Eh, thought I'd stick around for a bit, stretch my legs."

"You have legs?" The chosen gaped, not having really realized that the stumps that the hamster spirit possessed constituted as legs. Gnome snorted.

"You're just jealous mine are way cooler than yours."

"Setting that aside for now, what actually happened when you fought the hero Mithos?" Sheena interrupted, her hands still on her hips.

"Hm, let's take a little trip down memory lane..." Gnome sat on the ground and patted the shovel he held with it as he thought, the spade of the shovel hitting the ground for each second.

"He came in alone, announced who he was and that he was going to fight by himself and we kinda went into it." The hamster finally mused aloud, his spinning bow sending off a breeze that made both kids shiver. "Then he left."

Sheena and Zelos blinked.

".. that's it?"

"Nah, course not. He pretty much got his tail kicked." Gnome chortled lightly. "Though, he was as stubborn as all heck and gone, so somehow he managed to win."

"How did he do that?" Zelos asked curiously.

"Ah well..." Gnome scratched his cheek with his paw and grinned sheepishly. "I'll admit I did go a little easy on him. He seemed like a nice enough kid and all."

Sheena's puff frilled.

"You.. let him win?"

"Eh, kinda. That and he summoned Sylph, who then all proceeded to wail on me." The obese hamster shuddered and rubbed the back of his head right under his spinning bow where the phantom injury had stabbed him. "That smarted for the good part of a week after."

"And.. his friends were okay with that?" The tiny summoner asked confusedly, Zelos sporting the same expression. At that thought, Gnome started snickering as if he been told a hilarious anecdote and snorted into his paw.

"Heck no." Gnome responded, banging the shovel on the ground in an attempt to stifle his amusement." They didn't show up until afterwards. Turns out the reason they hadn't fought too was because he gave them all the slip and let me tell you, they were MAD. Especially the lady." Gnome laughed out loud and twirled his shovel in his left paw, his bow spinning along with it.

"She snagged his ear and dragged him out of the temple, ranting at him the whole way. And I thought the two dudes were scary. Yeesh, they didn't have anything on her." Sheena paused, taking what he said into earnest. It didn't sound right that even though Mithos had gone on alone, he'd been dragged out by his ear. Getting yanked out of a temple didn't sound very heroic, let alone while being lectured all the way out. That sounded like something that would happen to either Lloyd or Genis than an ancient hero of yore.

"What? Wait.. how old was he?" She asked, her raven eyebrow at an incline.

"Eh, I dunno. I'm not too good with ages." Gnome shrugged, "Anyhoo, what's with the new look? I knew younger is the new older, but this is goin' a bit far, doncha' think?" The earthy summon spirit gave them the once over with his beady eyes and shook his head.

"Seriously, what the heck happened to you guys? You both go through a dryer and shrink?"

"We dunno. All I know is one moment we were just fine, there was an earthquake, everybody lost consciousness and the next thing I knew, Miss Jubblies wasn't so jubbly anymore." Zelos replied, suddenly forlorn and melancholy. Letting out a dejected sigh, the former casanova gazed longingly at Sheena, more specifically at her lack of chest. He then launched himself at her and clung to her midsection, moaning in misery.

"They're gone, gone! Why, why must all the good things be yanked away from me before I had the chance to fully enjoy them?" He cried, hugging her torso and pretending to sob. The minute summoner, however, didn't share in his agony and brought her fist up so it was three inches from his nose.

"You have three seconds to get off before I decide to line the floor with your pelt."

"Ooh, touchy." Zelos let go quickly, bringing up his hands to show surrender, and grinned loftily at her. "That must happen when you get chronically flat."

"Why you-"

"Hellloooo, I'm still here." Gnome waved a paw up and down in front of both of their faces as a reminder that they weren't the only two in there. "So, earthquake and then you shrank? Heh, that almost rhymes."

"Right, so do you know anything about it?" Sheena asked after she pounded her fist into the side of Zelos' head. "Earth's kinda your expertise and all that."

"I'd love to help, Babycakes, but I got nothin'." The furry summon spirit shook his head and shrugged. "All I know is that I didn't do it, I don't think it was a mana link, seeing as how you hadn't ripped out another one at that point. And..." Leaning forward, Gnome inhaled deeply, drawing everything up towards him at an angle with his breath, including Zelos' long flowing hair.

"You guys smell different."

"What do you mean?" Sheena gave him a quizzical look while Zelos was attempting to salvage his rumpled hair courtesy of Gnome and glare at the summon spirit at the same time.

"You guys' mana smells like it's different since last time I saw you." Gnome replied, completely ignoring the withering expression sent his way. "Yeah, your mana's all out the ying yang in weirdiness. I'd get that looked at if I were you."

"What? How's it different?" Sheena blanched, her mind racing out of control over what it could be.

"Dunno. It still smells like you, but... just a bit off. Not like your one friend, his mana was just plain bizarre, but yours... well, let's just say it went through a makeover." Gnome replied relaxedly shifting his black beetle eyes over to the boy chosen, who continued to lament his once pristinely kept hair.

"And you.. you just smell funky."

Sheena laughed. Hard.

Zelos didn't find it so funny.

"Hey!" The diminished acolyte protested indignantly, his hair still in his hands. "I'll have you know I smell of masculine sexiness. It attracts the ladies."

"The only thing you'll attract is flies, dude." Gnome countered flatly. "So if that's all you got, I'm outta here. See ya." With a blare of heavenly light, Gnome disappeared into the dark air, leaving the two children alone in the dark audience chamber of Shadow.

"He's a nice enough guy, but dear Martel in heaven, he's hard to deal with." Sheena commented once she'd finally gotten her breath back from laughing so hard. "Now that's over, let's get out of here and head back to Meltokio. Maybe the guys at the research institute will have some answers." Turning back towards the exit, the short summoner noticed that Zelos was closely examining all of his clothes and holding them up to his face.

"What are you doing?" She asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Zelos looked up at her, glanced down at his clothes and then back up at her.

"... do I really smell that funny?" He whimpered. A lumbering sound, like thick cloth being dragged across a hardwood floor, however, caught their attention and both children turned to see Shadow gliding back towards his gazebo. Apparently, he had stayed behind to listen in on what had happened with Gnome's encounter with Mithos and was just now leaving. The hulking shadow then turned around and facing the pair of squirts, raised his claw and pointed at Zelos with one of his three pincher like fingers.

"... bath.." He hissed before disappearing in a cloud of purple light and smoke, leaving, Zelos bright red in the face, consequently muting his hair in comparison, and Sheena in tears as she collapsed on the floor, laughing until her face turned blue.

* * *

'How... how could I lose.. this much.. and to her?' Yuan asked himself incredulously as he lost for the tenth time that hour. For the past three and a half hours, he had been indulging Colette in playing a simple card game and for the same three and a half hours, he'd been losing spectacularly. It wasn't that he was letting her win, oh no, he had much more respect to do such a thing, but at the same time, being whipped at cards by a kindergardener was certainly a humbling event indeed. He'd only won one game and that was only because of a tie. Other than that, she was wiping the floor with him.

'I can't lose.' He coached himself. 'If Kratos were to find out.. he'd never let me live it down.' Yuan became so focused on the game of cards, he didn't even pay any attention when the buzzer door to his office sounded loudly for ten minutes straight. It wasn't until after Colette pointed it out that he pushed the button to the door's opening mechanism and let the soldiers gain entry.

"Sir, we're ready to perform the basic tests on the chosen and-" The soldiers who entered the room all stopped and stared at their fearless leader, who was fearlessly battling a little girl at the most dangerous game of all, Go Fish.

"What is it?" Yuan asked absently as he pulled another card out of the deck. The renegade footmen glanced at each other wearily, as did the scientists and finally one particularly brave, or foolhardy, soldier stepped forward.

"Sir, permission to speak freely." The young renegade requested as he stood still as a statue. Yuan handed over his queen to Colette and drew another card.

"Granted. Now what?"

"What... what are you doing?"

"Losing at Go Fish to a five year old, what does it look like I'm doing?" The renegade leader asked flatly, drawing yet another card from the deck.

"... oh." The renegade private replied in stunned shock, not having expected that as an answer. "Uh... anyway, we brought the the equipment for the testing, just as you instructed." Yuan nodded offhandedly and then returned his attention back to his cards, none of which looked promising. His opponent, however, observed the various scientists pull out test tubes apprehensively and stared at her cards with all she could muster.

"Testing?" Colette looked up from her cards again and eyed the scientists as they swarmed around the desk, setting up little stations on the mahogany surface of his desk.

"Yes. Your sudden alteration in age piqued my interest. Therefore, I thought it prudent to request some testing be done." Yuan replied, not phased by their presence in the least.

"Oh." Colette watched some of the vials open up and one brought up a alcohol swab packet. "... will it hurt?"

"It will be minorly irksome, but no, it will not hurt." The angelic commander responded, grouping together his aces and putting them in the score pile. "It will merely determine what caused you to shrink so rapidly."

"Oh, okay. If it helps everyone return to normal, then I'm happy to help." The puny acolyte chirped cheerily. "What do they need?"

"The scientists will need samples of your blood, skin and hair to complete the testing."

Colette blanched.

"My.. my skin?"

"Yes."

".. um... from where?" She asked, her pupils dilating.

"It doesn't really matter. Your hand would suffice." The half elf angel replied, readjusting some nines he had acquired through drawing and looking over his well organized, yet mediocre in variety, hand of cards.

"Oh! Oh.. okay." Colette let out a great sigh of relief and held out her hand so the renegade's scientists could take a skin sample. It didn't take long to remove the proper amounts of material suitable for testing from the tiny girl, as she didn't even flinch, yet alone cry and hide under the desk like a good portion of children her size. Then again, she had been conditioned to believe that she would die as part of the greater good, so perhaps the mere contribution of cells wasn't so dire after all. Soon after, the scientists and soldiers all left the room and both acolyte and angel were left to their card warfare.

"Can we still finish the game?" Colette asked, flexing her hand in its bandage that the healers had wrapped it in once the samples had been collected.

"Indeed." Yuan nodded in agreement, his eyes having never left his cards.

'I don't plan on suffering utter defeat from you so easily.'

"Mis- er, Yuan?"

"Hm?" Yuan looked up from his cards for the first time in a long while and raised an eyebrow.

"Would it be okay if... I asked you some stuff?" Colette asked quietly, her fingers fidgeting with the corner of one of her cards.

"That depends. Upon what do you wish to know?" He asked. If it had something to do with either his plans via Lloyd or his own personal life, there was not a snowball's chance in hell he was answering-

"Um.. this and that.. I mean, in the future if I have some questions, can I ask you?" The tiny chosen explained, pushing her thumbs back and forth along the flat edge of the playing cards.

Yuan paused. It had barely been three days and she was already starting to warm up to him. She was unusually trusting for someone her age who had been through so much, but then again, that could have been one of her special quirks, so who was he to question it? Botta had mentioned at one point she had been unusually friendly to the point of being foolish, but perhaps this could work in his favor.

'... it seems as though this may be a way to build trust with her, if she is comfortable with asking me questions.' He mused. 'I should agree.' He then straightened up slightly and nodded in compliance.

"If they are not of extreme secrecy, I will attempt to answer them to the best of my ability." The angelic turncoat responded, his left hand still clutching his cards. Upon hearing his agreement, the tiny angel beamed brightly at him, her whole face lighting up in the process and swayed happily from side to side where she sat on his desk.

"Thank you." Colette piped jubilantly. Yuan nodded once again and looked over the top of his hand at her, his emerald irises settling in on her ocean blue ones.

"Though, it is only customary that if I answer some of your questions, you answer some of my own."

"That sounds fair. Okay, I'll do my best!" Colette clapped her card ridden hands together and wiggled in her seat, thoroughly pleased with her latest predicament. The angelic renegade leader sighed at her innocent satisfaction and paused, staring at his cards.

"Is there a question you have now?" He inquired calmly. It didn't make a whole lot of sense that she would ask if later she could ask a question and she didn't already have one. Not many would do that, so if he went by his logic, there would be a Colette question at the end of the tunnel of confusion.

"Yes.. um.. do you know if there are any... weird things that can happen from using exspheres?" Colette pulled at her sleeve with her free hand and peered over at the side of the wall of his office.

'Huh.. what an odd question.' The blue haired seraph mulled it over in his mind for a few moments and then turned back to his younger counterpart.

"You mean like abnormalities in mana or mana shifts?" He asked in confirmation, trying to narrow down his information search.

"Yeah."

"There can be the cases of mild rashes, losing the basic senses, if it is the case as to chosens, sometimes itching or even retaining some water. There can be some some cases in which the body doesn't react well with the exsphere, and can lead to disastrous consequences." Yuan replied, pulling out another card and stuffing into a new place among his hand. "Though, that is extremely rare and I have only heard of one case like that." He then pulled a new card from the deck, stashed it into the far crevice of his hand and glanced back at Colette.

"Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." Colette hastily replied, giggling a little as she did. "Just curious." Yuan raised an eyebrow at her giggle, but as she had only been interested for information's sake, he didn't see a need to press her. Instead, the renegade commander turned his attention back to his cards, a pair of nines firmly in his grasp.

"Yuan?"

"Do you have another question?" The former half elf asked, looking up from his cards once again.

"Do you have any nines?"

"... here."

* * *

'Yaaahhhhhh...' Lloyd yawned into his hand. It had been four hours since both the seraph and six year old had departed from the red light green light game area and there had been nary a pit stop along the whole time. Lloyd hadn't minded all that much, though. After all that traveling he had done over the last seven to eight months with his friends, he had gotten used to the long term walking. However, whether or not his downsized body had gotten the message he wasn't sure.

His body, while it had been at one point, was no longer fit for long periods of travel. The heartiness that his older frame had given him had been stripped away when he shrank and it would take a lot of work and training before he could even think about building up his stamina to what it had been. As a result of walking for so long, Lloyd's head felt light and airy and legs were beginning to burn with each step he took. Though, he wasn't going to say anything. In fact, he was making it a personal endeavor to not complain or even hint he was wearing out.

'There's no point in saying that I'm tired,' Lloyd thought to himself, readjusting the straps of his backpack against the creases where his arms met his shoulders. 'I won't get anywhere and all that'll happen is he'll get annoyed and I'll have wasted my breath-'

"Lloyd." Lloyd was shaken out of his thoughts when the sound of Kratos addressing him broke through the otherwise tranquil air. He blinked in surprise and glanced up at the seraphim, who still had his hand at the hilt of his sword, ready for battle should the need arise.

"Huh?" The former teenager asked. "What is it?"

"Are you tired again?" Kratos inquired offhandedly, his eyes now focused on a passing seagull that pinned a fish in its beak. Lloyd watched the gull go by as well, then looked down at himself and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." Lloyd responded sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I dunno why though. I can usually go this long no sweat." Lloyd added, rubbing his wrist. Did he really see through his tough mask he had put on? Then again, Kratos was a master at being stone faced, so chances were he could probably tell when someone else was attempting to as well.

Or it could have been that Lloyd had just done a lousy job at it. He really didn't know. He didn't have a mirror to check and the last thing he wanted to do was actually ask whether or not he'd been convincing. So instead, he figured that he probably had been busted and there was little point in trying to hide it. Kratos would figure it out eventually and then all he would look like is a gigantic moron.

Meanwhile, Kratos observed him carefully, unbeknownst to Lloyd, and gestured to a spot near the guard railing on the edge of the bridge.

"Your tiredness is most likely due to your new stature." Kratos replied coolly. "You should rest briefly."

"Uh.. okay." Lloyd replied, not having honestly expected that. He had thought he would have been told to suck it up and continue, but hey, he wasn't going to say no to a quick breather either. Shrugging to himself, the boy trotted over to the side of the pier and flopped down on the cool stone.

It was probably about four or so, he figured, judging by how the sun glinted over the cool waves of the ocean. Once he was properly comfortable against the railing of the bridge, Lloyd looked over the side of the bridge's main flank and then up at Kratos, who had resigned himself to staring out into the ocean, his eyes blank and unreadable as usual.

'... how does he DO that? Is he psychic or something?' the pint sized swordsman asked himself in his head, scratching the side of his leg. 'Every time I think of something, he always knows. I wonder if that's a side effect from being an angel.. or maybe he's a ninja too. ' Lloyd fidgeted with his scarf, that had entangled itself beautifully with his backpack and finally, he removed the scarf because there was a huge knot at the end of it.

'Great... this thing knots too?' The tiny boy sighed as he worked the end of his scarf out from his backpack. 'And here I hoped that they wouldn't get knotted like my old shirt's scarves.' Once he fully untangled his scarf, Lloyd placed it back around his neck and readjusted himself on the stone paneling of the bridge, the mist from the ocean's spray tickling his legs.

'Ack, my shoulders are stiff.' He stretched out his arms and held them over his head so the ligaments would get a chance to extend. Over four hours with a backpack on his shoulders really didn't do much for his shoulders or their blades. While his arms were aloft, Lloyd looked past them and sneaked a peek at Kratos, who hadn't moved from his place at the railing.

'I wonder what he's up to... or what he's thinking about..' The pint sized twin swordsman thought to himself, his own chestnut eyebrows creased downwards. 'Why does he need to go to Sybak..'

The thoughts on what Kratos' agenda could be, however, were thrown out of his mind when a powerful and forceful growl erupted from the first grader's stomach and echoed into the air, shattering the peace and tranquility that the ocean had given. Lloyd turned bright pink at his own embarrassment and stared down at his stomach in horror, far too occupied to notice that the seraph to the side was doing the same, only one of his eyebrow was raised. Another roar from his stomach bellowed out again and brought with it a sharp pang that stabbed straight through Lloyd's torso and made his eyes water.

'Urgh... my stomach... not again..' Lloyd clutched his abdomen and groaned. Ever since he's turned back into a little kid, he found that his appetite was more veracious than ever. It had been very healthy when he had been seventeen, but for some reason he couldn't fathom, his appetite had been thrust into high gear and his stomach was leading the parade with its shrieks of indignation.

'It's probably 'cause I'm growing because I'm supposed to since I'm now six.' Lloyd sighed tiredly as he held his arms tightly against his stomach. 'Still, it's really freaking embarrassing that every twenty minutes I get hungry for no reason-'

"Here."

Lloyd looked up from his torso to see that a brown package being offered to him right next to his shoulder. Kratos had retrieved something from his own pouch and held it aloft for him to take.

"Huh?" The six year old swordsman blinked and stared at the package.

"Eat it. It will stave off your stomach's incessant protesting." Kratos told him curtly, the package still held out for Lloyd. The first grader watched the seraph skeptically, but decided his suspicions would have to take a back seat to his stomach. Reaching out his hand, he took the package from the angel, murmured a thank you and set it in his lap. Lloyd then began to carefully unfold the package, his focus completely honed in on what was inside.

"What is it... Hey, jerky!" Lloyd pumped a fist into the air and grinned at the deep brown dried meat that sat in the middle of the brown wrapper. "Alright!" He immediately broke off a piece and grinned at it before he popped it into his mouth. The succulent rich and smoky taste of the treat instantaneously made him melt and he floated back against the railing, thoroughly blissful.

While Lloyd was on cloud nine because of the smoky flavor, Kratos observed him from where he stood with his back against the railing, his arms folded across his chest.

"You enjoy smoked meats then." He commented quietly, closing his eyes. Lloyd, opening his own pair of cherrywood eyes, gazed lovingly at the treat in his lap and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I love them!" Lloyd chirped happily. Pausing, Lloyd glanced over at Kratos and then back to his newfound snack.

'Wait.. why did he have this anyway?' The first grader raised an eyebrow and held up the piece of maple stained food, scrutinizingly examining it.

"Hey, how come you have this?" His voice piped through the misty air to the angelic swordsman. Kratos opened one cherry eye, let out a sigh and closed it again.

"I am fond of certain flavors, if they are strong enough." He replied simply. "Smoked foods among them." Lloyd blinked, wrapping his head around it, but in the end figured it out and nodded.

"Oh, 'cause you're an angel and your tastes are all weird." He added in confirmation. From what he could tell, angels didn't eat a whole lot, so they probably didn't need to taste much. It only figured that a particularly strong taste would be one of the only things that an angel could actually taste well.

But then again, when Colette was undergoing the angel transformation, she couldn't taste anything. However, since she was supposed to be a vessel for Martel, the angels of Cruxis probably removed her own personal taste preferences to make way for Martel's own.

'Sounds like something that whack job would do.' Lloyd grunted, thinking of Yggdrasill and his unhealthy obsession with Martel. Just what was that guy trying to do anyway, turning Colette into someone else? Lloyd frowned and shook his head, still chewing on his latest bite of smoked meat. There had to be something, something that was driving him to do all of this, but what?

The petite swordsman shrugged and swallowed. He didn't know, and judging by how open Kratos had been about sharing information about the goings on at Cruxis, he wasn't going to find out anytime soon. As for the taste thing, maybe some angels were different from others, he didn't know. He'd have to let the jury out on that one.

Instead of dwelling on his questions, Lloyd broke off a section of the smoked food and held it out to the older seraph, who stared into the sky, apparently deep in thought.

"Do you want some?" Lloyd offered, waving his arm gently up and down in an attempt to get the angel's attention. Whether or not Kratos was willing to tell Lloyd about Cruxis or what he was doing, he still figured it would be a nice gesture to hand over some of his delicious snack. Plus, it had been Kratos' at one point, so it only felt right to offer.

However, the older swordsman merely glanced over at him via the corner of his eye, exhaled shallowly and shook his head once.

"No, I am fine." Kratos declined, turning his head so he was facing Lloyd head on. "You can have it."

"Oh... okay." Lloyd retracted his arm, looked at the piece of smoked meat and, leaning in, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

"This is... snapper and was made with a mahogany smoke, right? I can smell it." The pint sized squirt grinned and stuffed it into his mouth, smiling smugly when the taste hit his pallet. The seraph watched him eat and raised an auburn eyebrow, though it was mostly obscured by his curtain of hair.

"Yes, that would be correct." Kratos nodded, his back still resting against the railing. "How did you know what wood it was smoked with?"

"Back home, Dad and I would smoke meats all the time for winter." Lloyd explained, the side of his cheek packed with smoked goodness so he looked like a chipmunk. "It helped it last longer since we didn't have anything like that fancy refrigerator thing that Zelos has here. I learned all about what kinds of wood to use and how it would get different flavors and textures. I even made some money selling them." Lloyd swallowed and grinned at the angel, bits of salmon edging his cheeks.

"That's how I was able to buy Colette and Genis candy for their birthdays when I didn't know how to make stuff."

"... I see." Kratos responded quietly, a piece of his auburn hair hiding the side of his face from view. He then grew more silent than usual and glared at the stone railing across the way, his eyes as piercing as ever.

Sniffing and rubbing his little nose, the dinky swordsman shrugged, yawned and took another bite of the smoked meat. After he did, he then peered over at his angelic counterpart, watching him with a fervent eye as he chewed. The seraph seemed to take in all of what Lloyd had said, since his eyes never once left Lloyd's face the entire time the boy explained and, if it was possible, Lloyd could have sworn his piercing stare grew more intense and focused. Though, if that had been the case, it didn't show anywhere on the rest of his face, so the boy merely brushed it off as he munched on his food.

Though, there was something bugging the tiny boy. Something that didn't feel quite right.

"Hey Kratos?"

".. hm?" The seraphim broke his gaze from the other side of the bridge and glanced at Lloyd from the corner of his eye. Instinctively, Lloyd bit his lip at first, but once he caught himself, he shook his head and inwardly glared at himself.

'No.. no fear. He can probably smell it.' He chastised himself. 'Besides, I don't think he's probably gonna try anything just yet... still, I can't let my guard down. Everyone's counting on me.' Steeling his resolve, Lloyd turned his gaze upward and stared long and hard into where he suspected Kratos' eyes would be if he wasn't veiled by his auburn bangs.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked outright, his cherrywood eyes boring a hole into the faux mercenary's. In response, the antiquated angel paused and looked at Lloyd, the curtain of bangs parting just enough to show he had a somewhat quizzical expression. Well, as quizzical as Kratos got, Lloyd figured, but quizzical enough.

"How do you mean?" Kratos inquired, his eyebrow arched in interest while his arms rested in a fold against his torso.

"Well.. you're supposed to be my enemy but.. you're not really acting like it." Lloyd replied after he swallowed a particularly large piece of smoked fish. "You didn't kill me when I was weakened, you saved me instead and you're even letting me tag along." With a final gigantic bite, the miniature boy finished off the rest of the smoked treat and brushed the crumbs off of his face.

"Why?"

Kratos remained silent, his left hand trailing down so it rested on the hilt of his sword. Raising an eyebrow at his actions, the shrunken swordsman craned his neck in an attempt to gain more prowess.

"Is there a special reason or-" Lloyd cut himself off when he saw the fierce gleam in the older man's eyes. While he wasn't actually looking at the petite boy, Kratos was staring into space, the glare behind his eyes dangerous and fierce, though his face was as calm and collected as ever. If Lloyd had gone with just the feeling he got from the eyes alone, it looked like Kratos was struggling with something... or rather, intensely battling.

'Maybe.. that was the wrong thing to ask.' Lloyd grimaced, the lingering intensity of the other's eyes haunting him. Kratos stayed that way for a minute or two, the silence that settled smothering the stubborn six year old in the process. The seraph then glanced to the side momentarily, exhaled and turned his gaze back so he locked eyes with Lloyd.

"There is no honor in disposing of an adversary when he is injured or in a weakened condition. It goes against the code of chivalry." He responded finally, his voice stoic and unfeeling like a stone wall.

"Chivalry?" Lloyd asked, his own eyebrow raised.

"Yes."

"What's that?"

Kratos looked at Lloyd exasperatedly, pinched the bridge of his nose and replaced his arms against his chest.

"Chivalry is a code of conduct that dictated the proper aspects of how to handle situations, warfare, peers, acquaintances and oneself." Kratos replied calmly, his tone at an even cadence. "Think of it as a set of guidelines that apply to basic life as well as battle."

"Like the Dwarven Vows?" Lloyd asked, stuffing the wrapper into his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders.

"Something like that."

"So..." Getting gingerly to his feet, Lloyd tapped his shoes to make sure they were going to stay on and pulled at one of his sleeves that had scrunched itself up past his forearm. "So you weren't going to squish an... adversary when he was already down because it goes against the rules?"

"Yes." Kratos replied curtly.

"Oh." Lloyd blinked as his hands fiddled with the thick white scarf draped around his neck. "And.. adversary means enemy.. doesn't it?"

".. I suppose it does." Kratos replied in confirmation, his hand on the hilt of his sword like it always was when he intended to move.

"So.. we're enemies.." The petite boy murmured quietly, flipping the tail of his scarf over his shoulder.

"So it would seem."

".. Oh." Lloyd blinked and felt his shoulders drooped out of their own accord. A sinking feeling like someone had sewn a boulder into his stomach and dropped him in a lake also hit his abdomen and he was partially sorry he had eaten all that jerky. Only partially though, because the smoked snapper had been delicious.

"Have you rested enough?" The angelic swordmaster inquired curtly, though judging from the way he said it, he already knew the answer and was just giving Lloyd the benefit of asking.

"Huh? Oh.. yeah." Lloyd started in surprise, but then nodded in agreement after he regained himself.

"Good. Then let us be off." Kratos briefly scanned the balmy sky for the oncoming weather and then began walking towards the other side of the bridge.

"Okay." Lloyd stuffed his hands into his pockets and trailed a few feet behind the taller man, the stray lock of rebellious hair flittering in the wind as he walked. As he did so, the boy's tapered eyebrow angled themselves down as he immersed himself deep into his own thoughts in an effort to make sense of everything.

He knew he and Kratos were enemies but.. for some reason, that fact bothered him. Sure, he knew that the seraphim had done a number of things that he thought were evil, like trying to take Colette away for the whole vessel thing, and betraying them all in the process, not to mention attempting to kill them in the Tower of Salvation.

'No.. he wasn't trying. If he was, I'd be pushing up daisies, not having to figure out why the hell I'm a squirt.' Lloyd murmured to himself. Regardless though, there was just something that didn't feel right.

Whenever Lloyd needed help, Kratos had always been right there, chastising him on his techniques half the time and saving his bacon the other half. He was always around right when Lloyd was in trouble, like for when he was almost squished by that Vidarr guy in Iselia, when he was fighting Kvar, even when he was just learning to fight using two swords properly. Even now, when he hit his head and was injured, instead of finishing him off, Kratos had come to his aid, something no enemy he'd ever heard of would have done.

'There's gotta be more to this than just 'chivalry' or whatever..' Lloyd glowered at the steel blue sky that was beginning to grow flecks of orange and yellow from the setting sun. 'Just what are you hiding, Kratos?' He continued down the path after Kratos and set his cherrywood eyes on the seraphim's cape with an unyielding stare.

'I know you're supposed to be, but...' Lloyd sighed and readjusted the straps of his backpack on his shoulders wearily.

'You just don't feel like an enemy...'

* * *

Once they had both returned to Meltokio, Zelos had demanded they return immediately in order to figure out if his newfound size also made him smell as a side effect. Though, thankfully for him, it turned out that all he was was tired, dirt ridden and sweaty from galavanting around in the Temple of Darkness.

He had begged to stop at his mansion, but the scientists at the ERL had strongly advised against it, as several sets of Papal Knight squads had been spotted patrolling the area. As it was far too dangerous to go back to his manor, let alone by himself, Kate and the other half elves offered both of them a place to stay for the night, along with promises of dinner and the current results on the mana testing. The idea of two small school kids running around a large city in the middle of the night didn't sit well with any of the researchers apparently.

Zelos hadn't cared very much whether or not he went back to his mansion. So long as he got a shower, he was happy.

"So, what's the lowdown on the results?" Zelos asked as he strode into the guest quarters of the Elemental Research Laboratory, wearing a pair of bubble gum pink satin pajamas and his hair wrung in a towel. Sheena occupied one of the beds that squished itself against the wall. She'd already taken a shower before Zelos, despite his protests that he needed one more. However, reasoning that he would use all the hot water and a good threat or two later, she'd been able to 'convince' him that that it would be better for his health if she didn't get stuck with cold water.

The undersized summoner now sported a pair of lavender satin pajamas, much like that of Zelos, and had tied her hair back into it's signature spiky puff, the wet strands of black hair barely phased by the fact that water was trying to weigh it down. Letting out a poignant sigh, the red headed boy plopped down on the floor next to her bed and rested his head against the patchwork quilt.

"I dunno yet." Sheena replied, flopping on her stomach and holding her head up with her hands. "It's been a while, and we've already eaten, so chances are pretty good they'll be in here soon." Just as soon as she said that, a knock sounded at the door and Kate strolled in, her arms laden with piles upon piles of papers.

"Wow, that was pretty good." Zelos whistled and glanced up at Sheena, his eyebrow cocked upward. "Now say 'I'll summon Sylph so Zelos can get a massage.'"

"How about no." Sheena reached over and smacked the back of Zelos' head with the flat of her palm. Wincing, Zelos grumbled a few choice remarks and turned his attention back to the teal haired half elf. Once the door was firmly in place again via her shoe, Kate placed her folders on the desk next to the door and thumbed through them, her glasses sliding down her nose.

"So, what's up with us? Do you guys have a clue, hopefully more than we do?" Sheena asked as she rolled over onto her back and looked at Kate upside down. Peering up from her documents, the half elf researcher nodded and pulled out a file marked 'results'.

"We managed to retrieve some of the results from the testing so far." She reported, her left hand stuffed into her white lab coat pocket. "Though, not all of it is complete."

"That's okay." Zelos replied loftily. "Something's a heck of a lot better than zip." Kate nodded once again and flipped the paper she held on it's back.

"From what the test can tell, your basics, as in your blood, hair and skin samples all tested negative for any diseases or abnormalities of that kind." She read, pushing up her glasses with her left index finger. Upon hearing her report, Zelos let out a breath of relief and pretended to wipe some sweat from his forehead in a dramatic fashion.

"Well, that's good to hear. And here I was worried that I caught a chronic case of stupid from the rest of you-" He was then cut off when one irritated summoner punched the side of his head, which resulted in the cheery parade of stars and brightly colored lights dancing in his eyes.

"YEOW! What'd you do that for?" the puny chosen bellowed, clutching the side of his head.

"Because you're an idiot."

"I may be an idiot, but at least I didn't get the second worse score in the testing room-"

"Why you pain in the ass-"

"Ahem." Both of the bickering brats blinked and glanced over at Kate, who was giving them both the signature teacher stare that Raine had perfected over many a year. Instantly, their mouths both clamped shut and then sat still, attention back on her results.

"Thank you. As for your mana however, both of you displayed a high concentration of younger cells, more than I would have expected from just a change in physical appearance. From what we can tell so far, apparently something altered your entire mana's code and spiraled it backwards so you are all approximately one third your original age."

"What?" Both children gaped in horror. "Is there any way to reverse it?"

"That I'm not sure." Kate replied as she pulled out another paper from her folder. "Whatever caused all of your mana's to spiral out of their normal cadence must have been very powerful indeed. Whether or not we would be able to even come close to mimicking a force that magnitude I do not know. That will require further testing." She then placed the first few papers back in the folder and tucked it under her arm.

"Though, other than that, you all are perfectly healthy normal children." Kate added, while a small and rare smile graced the corners of her eyes. Zelos sighed tiredly and let his chin fall into the palm of his hand, letting it rest there like a thick and weighty rock.

"Huh, so our mana's gone all crazy, just like the fat hamster said-"

"-GNOME!" Sheena correctly sharply, reaching out to smack him again, though she missed when he moved his head out of her reach.

"Yeah, fat hamster." Zelos nodded in a 'duh' tone. "So our mana's gone cuckoo and we don't know how to get back to normal, but other than that, everything's peachy?"

"That pretty much sums it up." Kate agreed, now going back over her notes.

"Great." The seven year old swordsman groaned, flexing his slender hand in and out of a fist. "Good thing I like my coat. Judging from that diagnosis, I'll be wearing it awhile." Sheena let out an exasperated sigh as well and flopped back onto the bed again, her raven bangs flitting into her face. Kate observed both of their theatrics for a moment or two before she looked at her folder and flipped it open again.

"It does seem so." The half elf scientist nodded, snagging the corner of another paper from her folder and removing it from its manilla prison. "Also, I have a question about your friend Lloyd."

"Bud?" Zelos raised a scarlet eyebrow. "What about him?"

"He's quite the specimen. His blood levels were very interesting to study, as the quality of his cells." Kate read off her notes, a sparkling shine glimmering in her eyes behind her glasses. "Absolutely superb with the oxygen and mana flow and incredibly sturdy."

Zelos snorted.

"Figures that the only exam Bud can pass with flying colors is a physical one."

"Can it, Zelos." Sheena pounded his arm with her fist and then looked back at Kate. "But if he did so well with everything, what's the problem?"

"Nothing, there's nothing wrong with him, but..." The glint in Kate's eyes flickered again and even made her glasses flicker. "My curiosity as a scholar is getting the better of me. What kind of being is he?"

"Being?" Both of the school kids blinking in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What is he, race wise?"

"Uh... human, last I checked." Sheena replied, twirling a lock of her puff in her fingers. "Why?" Kate frowned, checked her charts and narrowed her eyes at it.

"Are you sure he's a human?" She asked, her long tapered teal eyebrow arched.

"Yeah. What else would he be?" Zelos asked offhandedly as he yawned into his fist.

"I thought he was one at first too, but his charts... they don't even come close to anything like a human that I've seen before."

Zelos and Sheena stared at her like she was crazy, looked to each other and then back at the half elf researcher, both sporting the same expression.

".. who and the what now?" The seven year old acolyte gaped, actually lost for words.

"His charts... it's not like a normal human's mana signature at all."

"You mean... he's a half elf?" Sheena asked incredulously, her jaw dropped.

"No, nothing like that. I would have known first glance if he was. That's what is prying at my curiosity. He... oh, never mind, it's nothing." Putting the sheet away into it's folder, Kate brushed her bangs out of her face, behind her ears and strode out of the door, her report long since finished.

"Sleep well, both of you." She murmured to both of them as she meandered into the hallway, her nose buried deep into the folder's contents.

".. how interesting.. Very interesting... I wonder if his mana was somehow altered differently from the others... intriguing.."

Zelos' eyes narrowed against his sea colored irises. There had to be more to this than she was letting on and there was only so much of Zelos' curiosity that he could take. Getting to his feet, he ran over to the door, wrenched it open and bounded into the hallway.

"I think it's a little more than 'nothing', y'know!" Zelos called down the passage way, but it was too late. Kate was nowhere to be found. Making a few snarky remarks having something to do with scientists and their disappearing acts, he traipsed back into the room and sat on the bed next to Sheena's with a flump.

"That's not unsettling at all." The chosen snorted, his pink satiny clad arms folded against his boyish chest. "She's got that 'Raine's gone crazy' look in her eye."

"Yeah, no kidding." Sheena nodded in agreement, having moved so she was lying on her stomach with the side of her face resting on the pillow. "Still, I don't think she's gonna tell us anything else."

"Guess not." He replied lazily as he sank into his own bed's fluffy mattress.

"Though, I wonder what she meant 'not like a human's.'" The dinky summoner added inquisitively. "That doesn't make a lick of sense."

"Well, no sense worrying about it right now. We're not gonna die just yet, knock on wood, so let's just kick back, relax and I dunno about you, but I'm psychic and I can see a serious power nap in my future." Zelos flopped his head onto his own pillow, his crimson tendrils of hair splayed all about. He then shoved his hands underneath his head and crossed one leg over the other, thoroughly content with himself.

"... that doesn't sound too bad." Sheena yawned and closed her eyes, her head weighing down the feather pillow. "Even if it was your stupid idea..." Within a minute, the petite ninja was out for the count, softly snoring at her pillow. Glancing over at her, Zelos bit back a laugh and shook his head. All that fighting, running, and smacking of chosens had worn her out, Zelos guessed, so it wasn't surprising that she fell into dreamland so fast.

"Yeah, she's so tough until she's tired, then she's just cranky... er." Zelos blew some hair out of his eyes and exhaled sharply.

'So Bud's mana's out of the categories, huh?' The diminished chosen stared up at the ceiling of the guest quarters, a wry grin on his face. 'Eh, he's never really been one for mainstream anyway. Though...' He yawned somewhat, having been exhausted from his long day of dealing with roachy summon spirits, marco polo and banshees all in one sitting. His weight sank into the mattress like a boulder into sand and another shallow breath escaped his lungs.

'I wonder if something to do with his old man...' He mused as he began to doze.

'Or maybe...' Zelos closed his eyes and felt his face glaze over as he slowly started sinking into dreamland.

'.. something got kick started.'

* * *

**Myah hah har, another chapter completed.**

**Lloyd: I want jerky now.**

**Me: Me too. It sounds very tasty.**

**Everyone else : Well?**

**Me: Hm?**

**Yuan: What was your big and important announcement?**

**Me: Oh yes, yes, of course.**

***ahem***

**Drum roll, please.**

**Zelos: *makes drum roll sound***

**...**

***DUN***

**TALES OF SYMPHONIA THE ANIMATION: THE UNITED WORLD ARC PRODUCTION HAS BEEN CONFIRMED!**

**All: WHAT?**

**Me: You heard me! We get a third season here people!**

**Lloyd: Are.. are you serious?**

**Me: Of course I am! I'm not the type to joke about something like that!**

**Kratos: So then... everything will be...**

**Me: You better believe it! I don't know what's going to be added or how it's gonna end, but it's coming!**

**Regal: How do you know about this?**

**Me: I haunt the OVA main website... a lot... more than I probably should... **

**Though this does prove one thing.**

**Genis: What's that?**

**Me: I had a strong feeling they were going to not going to be able to finish the story by the end of the Tethe'alla Arc and had another feeling that they would continue with more episodes. **

**Therefore, I must be psychic. **

**Genis: Psycho would probably be more accurate.**

**Me: Hush you. Now all we have to do is figure out how to convince them to put it all into english and the other languages... myah hah hah... **

**Also, I agree wholeheartedly with Freakyanimegal. There had better be fluffy oyako moments in the OVA...**

_*****_**stares pointedly at Kratos**_*****_

**Kratos: *raises eyebrow***

**Me: Anywho, on that joyous note of triumph, please review!**


	15. Newfound Discoveries

**Author's Note: Hello again, everyone and welcome to my underground lair-I mean fic. I have returned and with me, I've brought a new chapter, full of... plots.**

**Genis: We figured that much or you wouldn't be here.**

**Me: Don't be so deadpan. That's my job. Here, have a cookie.**

**Genis: Eh, sure, I suppose I could take a quick cookie break. **

***eats cookie***

**Me: Anywho, thank you to all of you who favorited, alerted, danced in a circle or combination of the three. Plus, dynamic and stupendous thank yous to Niffstral, Freakyanimegal, Kiomori, ThePurpleRose, The RPers HELL group, AngelofaWhiteNight, Destiny's Light, and silent romantic for reviewing. I really love seeing all of your reviews.**

**I shall now commence the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, I would have the third episode now. I wouldn't make me wait three months.**

**... three months...**

**Genis: Full length of how long you have to wait finally sink in?**

**Me: Three... three months... three stinkin' months... of being ToS-less...**

**Genis: Well, while the author's lamenting, here's the chapter.**

Chapter Fifteen: Newfound Discoveries

"Come in, Altamira! Tethe'alla to Altamira! Regal, I know you can hear me!" Zelos bellowed loudly into the microphone of the communications link. He'd been sitting at the desk in the far corner of the laboratory's electronic room for the past three hours, trying to get through to Regal or someone at the Lezareno company, but at that point, he would have been happy if it had been a beachcomber.

The staff at the Elemental Research Laboratory had been kind enough to lend their equipment so he could contact Altamira, since the comlink he carried could only be used by people who had synchronized his signal, but so far he'd gotten a grand helping of zip squat since he'd begun.

"Any luck?" Sheena asked as she entered the communications room, her puff dripping with water as she'd opted to take a morning bath. She still held a towel in her fist and dabbed at her face with it, the steam from the bath still giving her rosy cheeks.

"Not so far." Zelos replied tiredly, flopping his cheek into the palm of his hand and poking the communication's call button. "All I've gotten is some static and a feed that led right into the line of the weird bird lady's house."

"Huh.. yeah, talking to her wouldn't help much." The former assassin nodded, her puff sending droplets of water into the air, which probably wasn't the best for the high voltage machines around the room.

"Not unless you want a lecture about the importance and contributions to the world that the cuckoo made, which I think she is, by the way." The puny chosen grumpily added, leaning back in the cushioned desk chair in exhaustion. Once he completely sank into the overstuffed chair, a stray piece of hair that usually hung over Zelos' headband drifted into his face, tickling his nose and generally annoying him the process. The short chosen tried blowing it out of his face, but the rebellious hair wouldn't move. After a good four minutes of trying to remove it from his face via the power of lung propulsion, he finally snatched the hair out of his hand and held it up to his eyes so he could examine it. What he found, however, did not make him happy.

Frayed ends.

"Urgh, all this work is really killing my hair. Look at all these split ends." Zelos held up the lock of his lightly damaged hair so Sheena could get a better view and moaned in misery for an added effect. Instead of being overly impressed like she was supposed to be, the minute ninja merely rolled her eyes and positioned her hands on her hips.

"Your hair looks just fine. What is with you and preening?" She asked, her puff frilling into raven spikes as it dried. "That's really weird."

"No, it isn't. It's perfectly natural to make sure I look my best at all times." Zelos protested, trying to nurse his hair back to full health by petting it. "Besides, guys around my age preen all the time."

"Lloyd doesn't do that all the time."

"That's because Bud has the fashion sense of a turnip."

"That's not very nice to say about Lloyd. I thought you liked him."

Zelos glanced up from his hair at her, sighed exasperatedly and went back to feeling the silken strands.

"Of course I like my prized Bud, but me liking him doesn't help the fact that he would lose in a fashion contest to your average garden vegetable." The second grade swordsman replied loftily as he stared off into space. As he did, a wry grin trailed onto his face and his eyes glazed over.

"I could just see them now..." Zelos stretched out his palm and spread it across the sky like he was painting a fat line on the ceiling. "Fashion Face Off: Bud vs. A Beet."

"Beet: Three, Bud: A grand total of negative two."

Sighing tiredly at her idiot of a companion, Sheena pinched the bridge of her nose and folded her arms against her now table flat chest.

"Well, whatever." The miniature summoner scoffed dismissively, the yellow bandana around her neck bunching as she hugged her arms to her chest. "You don't seem to be having much in the way of luck with Altamira. Try somewhere else."

"Ah, ye of little faith. Give it time." Zelos replied, waggling a finger back and forth at her. His eyes shifted briefly towards the microphone and his eyes narrowed in thought, the scarlet eyebrows he owned furrowing into his aqua irises.

"Maybe if I shout louder, Regal'll be able to hear us through the speaker."

"You don't even know if he's there!"

"My beautiful voice shall be carried over the wind to his ears, just you wait and see!"

"Are you joking or are you that deluded?"

Zelos looked at her, considered it for a moment and shrugged.

"Eh, maybe both."

I don't think you're going to get anywhere by using that link." The flat voice of the head researcher, a half elf with pointed ears, shattered their rising confrontational conversation as he entered the room. His arms laden with many a folder and document while his glasses were askew and barely holding on to their perch on his nose, he had the appearance of someone trying to execute a Kate impression as he crossed the room and dumped all of the files at his work station.

"Why's that?" Both children asked, their spat long forgotten.

"We've been having trouble with our communications ever since that huge earthquake from about a week ago hit." The head researcher responded curtly, flipping open a file and pulling out a sheet of paper. He snorted, the paper had not been what he was looking for, and stuffed it unceremoniously into the folder, flapping it shut with his fingers. "The entire system has been blinking in and out of service."

"Besides, the long range communicator box needs to be turned on first before it works. You're trying to use the in-town one."

Zelos blinked.

"... oh." He murmured quietly, examining the communications device he still held in his hand. Sure enough, on the side of the microphone, the words 'In Town' were scrawled on a piece of opaque tape and plastered to the surface of the mic so all could see. Unfortunately, 'all' didn't include Zelos.

Growling, Sheena slowly turned and stared at Zelos with a deadly glare, her eyes searing through his red head. Zelos returned a sheepish grin, his cheeks slightly pink, and gently pulled at the tape, trying to get rid of the evidence.

Glancing at ninja and chosen both, the head researcher rolled his yellow eyes and began rooting through a side drawer underneath his desktop and picked up one of the folders, an older looking one with a tinge of coffee marring the edges.

"Though, we did get a message from Altamira I believe just around the time after you both left." The half elf scientist added offhandedly, pushing some documents into the side drawer and shutting it with a swift slam. The instant they heard that, both of the faux kids' youthful faces shot up and stared at him in incredulity, Zelos' already pink face growing redder than his hair, though it wasn't because he was embarrassed.

"You did? You coulda said something!" Zelos demanded, thoroughly irritated that he had worked that hard for nothing. Glancing up from his work, the half elf looked at Zelos indifferently, sighed pointedly and put another one of his folders away.

"You both looked so tired, I didn't think it prudent to add anything else to your plate." He replied coolly. His explanation seemed to satisfy Sheena, but a barrage of muttering erupted from the thoroughly rumpled chosen, along the lines of 'if my hair doesn't make a full recovery, I'm holding you responsible.'

"Anyway, here's the message. It was garbled and jumbled thanks to our communications system failing, so we wrote down what we could understand." Pulling out a folded piece of paper, the head researcher handed it to the summoner who was barely taller than where his belt was and stepped back. Sheena regarded the note for a minute, then unfolded it and spread it out so she could read it better.

"What does it say?" Zelos asked as he craned his neck over Sheena's shoulder so his chin rested just above her clavicle. Normally, Sheena would have pummeled him for being so close, but her focus on the note was too far gone to notice.

"Send Lloyd and all of.. to Altamira.." "Companions... unharmed." She read off. "That's it."

"Huh.. that does kinda sound like something Regal would say." Zelos nodded thoughtfully. "Nobody except him uses such fancy language. Think we should check it out?"

"It could be a trap, but right now we don't have any other options." Sheena responded as she tucked the note into the inside crease of her ninja garb's wrapped top. "Let's get going to Altamira."

"Right. Sounds just like the type of thing I need." The former philanderer stroked his hair and bounded out of the chair, stretching out his arms in jubilance. "Sun, sand and all the hunnies I can woo. Paradise in motion."

Sheena snorted annoyedly and ran a hand through her spiky ponytail, ridding it of the last few droplets of water that clung to it in futile hope.

"Yeah yeah. You'll be the heart breaker of the elementary school." She quipped wryly, her puff frilling out.

"Hey!"

"So, are you both going to head out soon?" The head researcher interrupted them again in an attempt to keep the volume level in the experiment room to a minimum as two shrill voices could destroy the glass containers if set at the right pitch.

"Sure, sure, but I want to call in Bud first." Zelos replied, stuffing a hand into his pocket and pulling out the tiny comlink labeled 'Bud'. "Maybe he's found something out about the old dude's up to."

"You think he's gonna know anything new?" Sheena asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Eh, probably not, but it never hurts to check." The diminished chosen dusted off the comlink's receiver on his pant leg and held it up to his chin. "You never know what'll be right around the corner." With that, Zelos brought up the comlink so it was an inch from his face and inhaled.

"BUD, COME IN BUD!" The miniature seven year old with the not so miniature volume control bellowed into the receiver, making Sheena's eyes cross and the head researcher flinch. "The gorgeous, divine and wise Zelos Wilder himself to Lloyd 'The Bud' Irving! Pick up Dude!"

".. Zelos." Sheena took off one her hands from her ears and smacked the side of her cheek to uncross her dilated pupils.

Zelos looked up from his comlink and raised one of his well kept cinnabar eyebrows.

"Huh? What?"

"If he isn't alone, you could've just blown his cover."

"... oops."

* * *

"_Beep Beep Beep_"

".. uh?" Lloyd blearily blinked his left eye and squinted. White cotton cloth met his gaze and he blinked again for good measure, staring at the fabric in confusion. Pushing the white cotton out of his face with his arm, the tiny boy rubbed his eyes and tried to get his eyes to focus. When they finally did adjust to the light of the room, Lloyd found that he was inside what looked like a similar replica of the room inside the House of Guidance. It had a simple set of furniture, a bed with a night stand, a chair and table, and a door that looked like it led into a bathroom. It was simple enough, the only decoration being a potted plant near the window, but Lloyd figured out one thing immediately upon his awakening. Wherever he was, it wasn't the Grand Tethe'alla bridge. For one it was indoors, but where exactly he didn't have the faintest idea.

'When... when did I get here? I don't remember anything past getting off that bridge.' Lloyd asked himself, rubbing his stiff shoulder with his fingers. He remembered getting off the edge of the bridge, jumping for joy that he was finally across and said something to Kratos that made him raise an eyebrow at the miniscule boy, but after that, it was all a blur. Though, somehow, he'd managed to find his way all the way into a bed and his shoes, swords and scarf were off.

'Did Kratos carry me?' Lloyd brushed a strand of his hair out of his face and frowned. He didn't remember walking to anywhere particular and that seemed like the only way he could have gotten from point A to point B while unconscious.

"_Beep Beep Beep_"

Lloyd shuddered violently when a sudden echoing shrill pitch ran through his ears and he tugged at them in agony, his previous train of thought derailed. His head shot from left to right as he searched the room for the source of his auditory pain, but to no avail. There was no one in the room, nor was there anything he could see that would have made that kind of noise. Though he was new to a lot of things in the other world, he was pretty sure a plant couldn't 'beep'.

'Then again, I don't know much about Tethe'allan plants.' Lloyd thought offhandedly to himself.

"Urgh, now I'm hearing things. I guess I'm more tired than I thought. Maybe just a few more minutes won't hurt..." He muttered, settling into the pillow and rubbing his nose, letting the curtain of sleep fall over his body once again. The soft mattress underneath welcomed his choice, letting his body sink into the hammock like comfort it offered. Practically purring in ecstasy, Lloyd sighed blissfully and readjusted himself by pushing his small body over with his elbow so he laid on his midsection with his back to the air, the blankets covering him up to his shoulder blades.

When he lazily flipped over onto his stomach, Lloyd's arm flopped onto the side of the plush bed, consequently sending a sharp gust of wind back into the air and rustling something that sat precariously on the night stand. Peeking an eye open, he glanced up towards the source of the rustling only to see a piece of paper that had been neatly placed on the night stand, a glass of water holding it in place so it didn't flutter away. His curiosity getting the better of him, Lloyd flipped back onto his back and craned his neck upward to get a better view of what it was. Under the base of the water glass, a folded note with the word 'Lloyd' rested on the hardwood surface of the stand, its edges flittering somewhat as it was pinned there.

'A note?' The first grade swordsman raised his chestnut eyebrow and, pulling the note out from under the glass, flipped open the folded piece of paper, setting it gently in his lap. The letter itself was written in incredibly neat, yet loopy script, staining the paper with its royal blue ink. Lloyd gained a quizzical expression on his face, and he silently wished he'd paid more attention when the professor had gone over how to read old fashioned handwriting. Mentally smacking himself for not having done so, Lloyd eyed the loopy handwriting with a substantial amount of scrutiny and began to read, though he was pretty sure who the letter was from.

'_Lloyd,_'

'_When you read this, I suspect you'll have many questions in regard to where you are. You are currently in the inn in Sybak, as you fell asleep the instant we departed the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge. I attempted to wake you, but as you sleep like a brick caked in mortar, my efforts were in vain._'

".. does he have to be so blunt?" Lloyd ran a hand through his hair, his fingers quickly wrapped in the chestnut tresses that defied gravity and all it stood for.

'_I have arranged breakfast to be sent to your room and most likely it will be there when you awaken._'

'_I will be in the Sybak Academy's research institute. Go there if you so desire._'

'_Kratos_'

"Huh. That was strangely friendly of him." Lloyd shrugged and tucked the piece of parchment into his shorts pocket. When the piece of paper was safely stored in the cotton folds of his left pants pocket, the pint sized swordsman leaned back against the headboard of the bed and stretched.

"_Beep Beep Beep_"

"Where the heck is that sound coming from?" Lloyd demanded irritatedly, his hands rubbing his ears vigorously in an effort to get the painful ringing to stop. Frowning, the boy craned his neck around, trying to hear precisely where the beeping was coming from, but each time he did, the sound was quieter than it had been when he began. He then sat back against the headboard again and folded his arms against his chest.

"_Beep Beep Beep_"

There was the noise again. And strangely enough, the beeping sound sounded like it was coming from his shorts. Lloyd stared long and hard at his pocket and then reached for it, curious as to what was beeping. However, when he adjusted himself so he could move, his leg brushed up against the pocket, which then clicked and a loud voice echoed through the air of the otherwise silent room.

"-could've just blown his cover."

"... oops."

The boy froze, eyes widened and locked on his pocket, which had apparently just struck up a conversation with him.

"... are my pants talking to me?" Lloyd blinked in surprise and stared down at his right shorts pocket. "I'm not dreaming am I?" Snagging one of his cheeks with his thumb and forefinger, the first grader pinched down on the fleshy skin and winced. It hurt, so there wasn't a chance it was a dream. His pants pocket was indeed talking to him, and quite loudly at that. Lloyd's cherrywood eyes narrowed sharply and he glared daggers at the pocket, his tapered eyebrow tilted in an arch.

"If this is a weird little side feature of these pants that Kratos didn't tell me about, I'm gonna-"

"Bud?" The pants suddenly shouted at him and he jumped, jolting himself successfully out of his oncoming rant.

Lloyd raised an eyebrow and looked at his shorts pocket. Sure enough, a glowing light was blinking faintly behind it's curtain of fabric and then he remembered. He had stashed the communicator Zelos had given him before he left the elemental research laboratory and had completely forgotten about it. Grinning sheepishly to himself, the first grader fished out the marble sized contraption and flicked on the 'On' switch so the entire thing glowed.

".. hello?" Lloyd called into the receiver and then quickly pulled back in case the communicator decided to explode in his face. Only one person called him 'Bud' and it didn't take three guesses who was on the other side of the line.

"Bud!" Zelos blared through the speaker, deafening Lloyd in the process and making his eyes water. Groaning over his poor ears, Lloyd massaged them gently and glanced at the marble in his hand.

"Hey, Zelos. What do you want?" He asked, wishing his sensitive hearing would go on a vacation.

"'What do you want?'? What kind of cruddy greeting is that?" The seven year old chosen on the other end of the line demanded, his voice sounding like he had been emotionally wounded. "You're supposed to say 'Oh, Master Zelos it's been far too long! How I long to see you-"

"Don't be dumb, you lecherous lunkhead! Like Lloyd's gonna say something stupid like that!" Sheena's voice interjected, which was then followed by a hard clunking sound of her fist colliding with the side of Zelos' face.

"Ow! What'd you hit me for, you crazed banshee!"

"I'll give you a crazed banshee, you sorry excuse of a chosen-"

"Guys? I'm still here." Lloyd spoke into the microphone loudly in an attempt to garner their attention again. "Hey, Sheena. You guys learn or do anything new?"

"Hey, Lloyd." The voice of Sheena replied through the microphone, while whimpers of pain from Zelos filled the background. "We just got that pact with Shadow, so that's in our favor."

"Really?" Lloyd's eyes lit up and he gripped the comlink as if it had tried to escape his grasp. If they had really gotten the pact with Shadow, they all would be one step closer to splitting the worlds and would have an edge on Cruxis, no matter what their age. Grinning smugly at the idea of throwing Yggdrasill off his game, Lloyd leaned in towards the link and scooted so his abdomen was squished against the white blankets. "What happened?"

"Oh, Bud you totally missed it!" Zelos' dulcet tones trilled through the speaker, "Sheena summoned Gnome and he squished Shadow with his gigantic butt!"

Lloyd stared at the comlink.

"You serious?"

"Yeah, I am. Got him like a pancake and flattened him like a spider under a shoe. It was kinda freaky, because he almost squashed me in the process, but really man, you shoulda seen it-"

"ANYWAY, we got the pact, so we don't need to worry about that now." Sheena interrupted and the same sound of Zelos being punched in the head echoed through the speaker, then followed by a barrage of swears via the second grade swordsman.

"That's great." Lloyd cringed as the dinky version of Zelos continued to loudly lament his head and hair that had apparently been 'forever damaged by the merciless gorgon Sheena' and tried to take his stream of conversation back to the main topic. "That means we only have to get Luna, since we've already talked to Aska and he said he'd be there."

"Yeah, we're making some serious headway with pacts and all that good stuff." Sheena's voice, now much louder as to drown out Zelos' tearful woes, chorused through the speaker. "Though when it comes to figuring out what the hell happened to us, we've got a long way to go."

"Huh? What do you mean?" The six year old brunette boy asked, eyebrow raised and at the ready.

"We got some of the test results back from Kate and she said that we're peachy as pie apparently." Zelos told him flatly, having abandoned his complaints as they were falling on deaf ears. Lloyd, upon hearing that, scrunched up his nose in confusion and sat back so the small of his back was flat against the wooden headboard of his bed. That didn't sound right to him. If they were so peachy as pie, as Zelos put it, why would they still look like a bunch of school kids?

Something had to be different.

"How can that be right? We're all shrunken and stuff, that can't be right that nothing showed up." Lloyd pointed out aloud, hoping the others would have some more information other than 'peachy as pie'.

"Well, there was one thing that she did mention. She said that our mana cells are collectively younger in age and that's what's making us all small." The voice of the petite summoner replied, her high pitch reverberating in his ears.

Lloyd blanched. If someone or something was tampering with his mana and the mana of everyone else, they could all potentially be in some serious trouble. He remembered that one time Genis had said that mana was more important to life than water, though not a whole lot of people paid it much mind. If something went awry with their mana, he didn't know the details, but they could all mutate, turn into monsters or even worse. He could only imagine what would happen if someone twisted their mana, and what he thought of was not pleasant whatsoever.

"You mean our mana's been messed with and that's why we're all like this?" Lloyd asked, his cherrywood eyes the size of dinner plates.

"Sorta. We don't know why, who, what or how, but there's the fact that our mana's been put through the dryer of life and here we are." Zelos added bluntly, the rustling sound of him running a hand through his hair adding to the static of the transmission.

"Great. Just great." Lloyd tiredly rubbed his forehead where the bandage had once sat on his temples and flicked the rogue strand of his hair out of his eyes with one finger. "Is there anything else?"

"Not about that, but there was one thing that Kate mentioned about your mana in particular, Lloyd." Sheena replied.

"Me? What?" The pint sized coliseum victor repeated, his head tilted at an angle in confusion. They were all tiny, he knew that, but what was so special about him?

"She was going on and on about how great your mana, blood, skin and hair samples were, Dude." Zelos said, the comlink in his grasp again. "Kinda creepy to be honest. She got that 'Professor Raine' look in her eye and I thought she might maul the test results or something."

Lloyd paled again.

"That's not a good sign." He shuddered at the thought of being turned into a research subject going through countless tests while someone shrieked 'Marvelous!' at the top of her lungs. One, he didn't like being tested on, and two, there was only so much his sensitive hearing could take in one sitting.

"That's not it though. She said something odd about your mana.." Sheena trailed off and judging from the sound of her sighing on the other end of the line, she was highly uncomfortable. After a good three minutes of her silence, the comlink rustled with static frequencies due to someone moving it.

"Lloyd.. are you human?" Zelos asked, his tone strangely sober and serious.

Lloyd stared at the comlink, not sure he heard right.

".. what?"

"Dude, are you human?" Zelos repeated, his voice just as sober as the first time.

"... uh.. yeah, last time I looked." The tiny kid nodded in confirmation though he knew they couldn't see it. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, she said that your mana didn't look like a human's." Sheena responded, her voice oddly sheepish and meek. "Said it was off the charts and barely resembled one."

"Seriously?" Lloyd asked incredulously, his eyebrows arched in confusion. "That's really weird. Why would my mana come out like that? Do you think it had something to do with our squirt sizes?"

"I don't think so. We both checked out just fine and yours was the only one she was spazzing over. You sure you're a human there, Bud?" The chosen asked a third time, though his tone had lightened a little amount.

"Yeah, I'm sure. What else would I be?" Lloyd's blood wood eyes narrowed at the comlink and stared it down. If this was their idea of a joke, he didn't find it too funny. However, Zelos rarely got that serious, so maybe it really was the tests being weird.

"Eh, I dunno. That's what I said, but I still figured I should ask. Curiosity and all that fun stuff." Zelos replied and probably shrugged at that point, Lloyd figured, though he couldn't actually see him. Whenever he got that laissez faire attitude, he normally shrugged, so it was a decent enough idea to go on.

"So, Bud, any luck with the perpetually cranky one?"

"Kratos?" Lloyd snorted and rested his arms behind his head like a pillow so they braced his body on the wooden headboard. "Not a lick of info out of him, and believe you me, I've been trying. He won't tell me anything."

"Didn't think so." The undersized ladies man exhaled wearily. "That gramps is about as talkative as a brick."

"I don't want to admit it, but I agree with Zelos. He's not much for small talk." Sheena added in agreement.

"Oh, hunny I knew you'd see things my way-"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, I still think you're an idiot."

"Aw, no love, man. No love."

"Er... yeah. I'll keep at it, and hopefully I'll get some information out of Kratos by the next time I talk to you." Lloyd was tired of being the subject of much close scrutiny and decided to swap himself for them. "What about you guys? What are you gonna do next?"

"We got a garbled message from Altamira, from whom we suspect Regal sent. It sounds like something he'd send." The small scale summoner reported, waving what sounded like a piece of paper back and forth at the comlink.

"Oh, okay, but how do you know if it's not a trap?" Lloyd replied. After what had happened in the Ymir Forest, he wouldn't put it past Yuan to pull something as sneaky and underhanded as that. Being sneaky and underhanded was kind of his thing after all.

"Eh, nobody besides Yuan knows about us right now, and I don't think he'd want to rat us out to Yggdrasill. We know too much about what he's doing and that would be too risky." The seven year old potential acolyte responded coolly. "Besides, it's the only lead we have."

Lloyd sighed. While he didn't like to admit it, Zelos was right. They couldn't know for sure whether or not it was ruse to lure them out, but at least the others had found a potential lead on where some of their friends had gone off to. It was more than he had managed to get, anyway.

"Alright, I got it. Be careful you guys." He nodded, grinning at his comlink. A lead was a lead, whether or not it was false, so he all he could do was trust his friends and hope that the rest of them were okay.

"Will do. Over and out, Bud of Mine." Zelos' coat sleeves flapped sharply, sounding like he saluted and some more rustling crackled through the transmission as the comlink was passed.

"Bye Lloyd, and good luck with Kratos and finding the others." Sheena's voice bid farewell too and suddenly the static on the comlink's speaker died away, leaving nothing in its' wake. The intercom's flashing blue light flickered and dimmed, signifying it's shutdown, and it laid there in Lloyd's hand, thoroughly out of commission.

"Alright, time to eat some breakfast." The slender boy stuffed the comlink into his shorts pocket, making a mental note that it was actually a communicator and not his pants talking to him, and then turned his attention to the plate of breakfast that occupied the night stand. On the plate, the eggs, toast, grapes and bacon stared at him intensely with that 'come hither' look.

With the exception of the grapes, the meal on the plate had probably been hot at one point, but as it had been lying there for who knows how long, it was stone cold. Though, Lloyd didn't seem to care. Food was food and he was famished. After the pint sized first grader had finished devouring the meal, which took all of five minutes because he was starving, he vaulted out of the bed, raced into the bathroom and proceeded to clean himself up. Once he'd finished taking a bath, which thankfully he got to do WITHOUT help this time, Lloyd got dressed, made the bed and ran out of the room, shutting the door behind him with a slam. He dashed down the hall, nearly colliding with the maid, whose arms were laden with fresh sheets, and dove out the front door.

The afternoon air in Sybak was the same as he'd remembered it when he first came to the university town; cold, rainy and not a lot of sunshine. A perfect place to study and not want to go outside for any reason save a natural disaster or a sale on lab coats.

"Huh, maybe that's why they're so pale." He commented aloud as a particularly pallor student lumbered by, his arms filled with books and his back bouncing up and down like a badly wound slinky. Lloyd's eyes lingered on the older student as he lurched away, particularly on his skin, and then peered down at his own arm. While his skin was a tad healthier looking, it was just as pale as that of the scholar who had passed him, if not a mite paler. Lloyd blushed slightly and tugged at the red sleeve of his shirt so as to hide his rather pale forearms and shoved his hands into his pockets.

He had forgotten just how pale and pink he had been when he was six before. He wasn't bothered by it at all, though he didn't like sunburns much, but to say that he felt sheepish by brashly commenting about someone else who had the same complexion he did before would be an unbelievable understatement.

'Okay, if I were that research building, where would I be?' the short swordsman asked himself, trying to deter himself from his own thoughts of mockery and 'glass houses'. His hands stuffed in his pockets, Lloyd wandered up and down the corridors of the city, looking for anything in particular that could constitute as a research building. However, most of the buildings could have worked as such, so going with that searching method was not helpful in the slightest.

He'd been there in the Research Academy once before when they had been trying to cure Colette of her soullessness, but unfortunately, he couldn't for the life of him remember exactly where it had been. Plus, the entire town looked different now that he was the size of a six year old shrimp.

"Great, this is just turning into one big goose chase-" Lloyd muttered to himself, but stopped midway when something caught his eye.

Something big, dark and thoroughly terrifying.

Wheeling his head around, Lloyd stared up at a massive fortress of a building that towered above the rest of the surrounding structures, it's blackened and ashen roof piercing the sky.

"Eesh, that's a freaky building." The six year old swordsman rubbed his shoulder in an anxious motion. He couldn't really give an exact reason, but the building really gave him a nasty case of the creeps.

"It's also really old. How long has that been here?" He didn't honestly remember seeing that building when he had previously visited the university town, but then again, he was so focused on rescuing Colette that he didn't recognize most of the other buildings either. Steeling his leaping nerves, Lloyd walked gingerly up the gate that surrounded the gigantic structure and poked his head through the bars so he could get a better glimpse of it.

The huge structure, which resembled that of one of the minor castles that the Professor had talked about in history class, occupied a large stretch of land that snaked its way around the building in a square formation, a long line of turreted and galvanized fencing lining the perimeter. The fence split the yard into two places, one to the left and the other to the right, while wrought iron spikes lined the tips of the gates and served as a notice that no one was going in or out any time soon. Lloyd grimaced as he peered at the gates, especially their spear points and then turned his eyes up to the door, which made him grimace more.

The main path to the tall and ominous looking wooden doors was cobbled with old and weathered stones that matched the stone grey building with the black trim, while the iron gate edged each side of the walk, bits of shrubbery lining the path in an attempt to liven the area. Though, from the way the courtyard on either side looked, the building was sucking out all of the life so all that was left were dusty husks.

Tearing his eyes away from the gigantic terror inducing building, Lloyd glanced over at the yards on either side of the walk in order to get a better view. However, upon closer inspection, he realized he'd been very kind when he said they were dusty husks.

To call them gardens would have been an insult to gardeners everywhere. Both yards looked more like dirt ridden plains, with maybe a shrub here or there, but that was about it in the way of greenery.

'Man, Triet's greener than this.' Lloyd stared at the flat and dry areas, with brown patches of grass and bushes due to a blatant lack of water neglect. He'd always had a fondness of life and greenery, as he kept a great many plants in his room at home, so a total disregard of the plant life naturally rubbed him the wrong way.

Though, while the right side of the compound wasn't exactly a lovely icon of botany, the left yard made it look like a sample from the forest surrounding his house. He didn't think it was possible, but the left side was actually WORSE than the right, the few plants in the area long since dead and only two tufts of brown, crinkly grass had managed to cling onto life, though only just.

'Look at this.' Lloyd scoffed disapprovingly, his arms folded against his chest and his face in a scowl. 'This is why no one pays attention to the world. If they can't try to keep their own plants healthy, how the hell do they expect to keep the planet alive-"

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd froze. His head swiveled around as he searched for the source who had said his name, all the while sporting a somewhat quizzical expression. He was pretty sure that the plants hadn't called his name. One, plants couldn't talk and two, they were devoid of life.

Though, there was someone alive lingering near the edge of the left courtyard.

Someone who had shouted his name.

A silver haired, blue eyed and very familiar someone.

Lloyd's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, the plants and building instantly forgotten.

"Genis?"

* * *

'.. I only won one game.' Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat at his desk in his office. 'And against the Chosen prone to tripping over air no less.' He had spent most of his night attempting to win at least one game of 'Go Fish' against the dinky chosen and he had only managed to win once, due to a lucky five and seven duo. Though, he wasn't sure exactly how accurate that really had been.

'And to make matters worse, I have a sinking suspicion that she let me win. How demeaning.' Yuan sighed wearily and sank back into the soft cushions of his desk chair, letting the squishiness of his chair comfort his wounded pride. The Renegade leader let his neck go limp and gazed up at his plastered ceiling, which merely stared back down at him, unwavering and unyielding. He kept on staring at it for about five minutes, until the plaster began to move. Maybe it moved, maybe his vision blurred. He didn't know. But it was a victory and right then, he'd take what he could get.

After he won in his staring contest with the ceiling, the angelic renegade glanced out of the corner of his eye at the room that led off from his office where the chosen had taken up residence and was sleeping her little heart out.

'She's been asleep for quite a while.' He commented to himself tiredly. 'All that winning must have tired her out. I wonder when she'll wake up.' Stretching mildly, Yuan rested in his chair further and closed his eyes, debating on whether or not he should take another nap as well.

'It's probably just as well. As she's decided to stay in a human like form, though she still held onto her wings, I suppose gaining some sleep would be beneficial to her system.'

As he didn't necessarily require sleep, Yuan found the idea of waiting for someone else to do so to be rather irksome. Though, he understood why it was necessary, so being a logical being, he decided that letting her recuperate would be good on her system as well as his if it turned out she became irritable when exhausted.

Though, logical being or not, the fact remained that he had absolutely nothing to do and it was eating at him.

'.. I don't believe it, but.. I'm bored.' He tapped his fingers lightly on the surface of his desk and ran a hand through his bangs. Were angels supposed to get bored or rather.. were they allowed to be so? He didn't know and to be completely honest, he didn't really care. All he knew was he was and he hoped something would happen soon lest he lose his mind-

"Good morning, Yuan." Yuan was jolted out of his thoughts when a well rested, blonde framed face grinned at him from her sitting place on top of his desk. Yuan's initial reaction was to inquire over why she had decided that his desk was her new lounging chair, but staved off his sarcastic tendencies for the basic social graces instead, though they were not nearly as satisfying.

"Good day, Cho- Colette." Yuan quickly corrected himself, as she had asked him not to refer to her as 'Chosen' and, as he wanted to develop some level of trust to gain information about Lloyd, he had promised to uphold. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I feel great. How long have I been asleep?" Colette asked happily, stretching out her teeny arms over her head and yawning.

"Roughly fourteen hours. You must have been quite exhausted."

"Wow, I didn't know I slept that much." The kindergardener piped perkily, her blue eyes shining because of all the sleep she procured. "Did you get any sleep?"

Yuan snorted quietly and shook his head.

"I don't need it, therefore I did not waste my time sleeping."

"Oh, because you're a part time angel, right?You only need naps."

"Colette, I am not a part time angel. I merely can nap if I wish, though I do not need it."

"Oh, okay. You must have really wished it when you were face first in your arms snoring, then."

'Of all the things to see, why did she have to see that?' The blue haired angelic lord groaned inwardly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Cho- Colette, I was curious if you would answer some of my questions regarding you and your friends." He quickly shifted the subject off of himself in the hopes that she would follow and not continue to talk about his lapse in dignity. "You did agree to doing so before when I agreed to answer your inquiries."

"Okay. That sounds fair, but why do you want to know?" Colette's blond head tilted to the side and she watched Yuan intently, her large innocent blue eyes boring a hole into his head as she smiled at him.

"... curiosity's sake."

"Oh, okay. That sounds fine then." The diminished vessel-to-be quickly got to her feet, dusted off her cotton dress with her palms and ruffled it forward as a bonus touch. "You did answer some of my questions after all."

"But... would it be okay if I get something to eat? I'm kinda hungry..." An angry and fierce growl erupted from Colette's little stomach, causing her to blush and him to regard her carefully, just in case she decided to turn rogue and attack his cape again.

"Very well. You can tell me after you eat."

"That's great! Can I have a great big plate of pancakes?" The five year old asked hopefully, her hands clapped together.

"I suppose, though it is rather late for that kind of dish."

"Really? What time is it?"

"One-thirty."

"Oh, I see. Lunchtime then." Colette grinned cheerily. "I'll have some lemon, current and apple sandwiches." Spinning her heel, the tiny acolyte beamed at her ancient companion, but her smile faded away only to be replaced with an anxious expression.

"Yuan, are you alright?" The undersized acolyte asked worriedly, her blond eyebrows creased in concern. "You're cringing."

"I'm fine." The former half elf replied coolly, his cringe thoroughly wiped from his face so no traces of said expression remained. Colette merely smiled at him, completely oblivious to his adversity towards her food preferences and trotted down the hall, the skirt of her white dress swishing from side to side. Yuan's eyes narrowed as he watched her flounce down the hall, his mind swirling deeply in thought.

'Martel was rather fond of those as well... please don't tell me that Yggdrasill even had his sister's personal tastes programmed into the chosen's genetics.' The angelic turncoat ruminated as he slowly traveled down the corridor towards the kitchens, Colette far ahead of him. 'That would be just disgustingly creepy.'

Upon further reflection, Yuan's eyebrow raised a cerulean eyebrow and a hollow laugh escaped from him, though it held no amusement whatsoever.

'Then again, he does wear that ridiculous suit while he is in his adult form, so perhaps that wouldn't be much of a stretch after all.'

* * *

"Genis, I'm thrilled I found you." Lloyd reached a hand through the gap in the wrought iron bars, his hands clenched around the bars that separated him from his friend, and patted his shoulder. Once his palm rested firmly on his best friend's shoulder, the puny half elf let out a sigh of relief, obviously reassured that the boy in front of him hadn't been an illusion of despair.

"I'm so glad to see you too." Genis replied, grasping onto Lloyd's arm with his own tiny paw, grinning wryly. "I didn't think I'd be able to find anybody now, but leave it to you to run right into me."

"Eheheh." Lloyd rubbed the bridge of his nose with the side of one of his fingers. The shrunken swordsman then looked from the left side of the compound to the right and back again, his nose scrunched up in a childish expression of confusion. Then, it hit him.

Genis was alone.

"Is the Professor around here?" He asked, his eyebrows turned down in a frown. "You guys didn't get separated, did you?" It didn't seem like Raine to just leave her brother alone, regardless of what age he was. Now that he was about four, that just made her absence not add up more. Said four year old sighed, glanced over his shoulder at the ominous building behind him and looked back at Lloyd limply.

"Yeah, Sis and I are both here." Genis nodded, his silver tendrils of hair drifting in front of his large blue eyes. "She's inside for the girl's stuff. I wanted to go with her, but the adults working here wouldn't let me. So, I had to stay out here because I'm gender impaired."

Lloyd blinked.

"Huh?"

Genis snorted.

"It means I'm not a girl, you doof."

"Oh." Lloyd scratched the side of his head with his hand and then paused. "And whaddya mean 'doof'?"

"Ahahahahah!" The miniscule mage chortled, his high voice echoing through the brisk afternoon air. "You're still Lloyd, that's for sure."

Mildly annoyed that he was once again being made fun of, though not in an intendedly cruel way, Lloyd rolled his eyes and felt the edge of his scarf, the thick yet soft cloth warming his fingers with friction. He was really happy that he managed to finally find one of his friends, but the mockery he could live without.

"Yeah, well, what are the pair of you doing in here?" Lloyd asked, hastily changing the subject as he didn't want to continue down the conversational path of 'Lloyd isn't the brightest crayon in the box'. He was smart, just.. not in the way that Genis was. He wasn't smart in theories and book stuff, he was better with working with his hands and application and actually DOING stuff instead of just talking about it.

'That's what Dad said anyway.' The boy added grudgingly, but snapped himself out of his thoughts when the preschooler in front of him cleared his throat in order to gain his six year old friend's fleeting attention span.

"After we, Raine and I, got separated from everybody because of that ambush, we ran all the way back and managed to get back to Sybak. It was the closest place we could think of and we couldn't get to Altessa's because the Renegades had blocked off our exit." Genis explained, flipping up one of the straps on his overalls that had slid down his shoulder. "But.. when we got to Sybak, we were immediately picked up by some city officials and they took us to the children testing center."

"Testing center?" Lloyd's ears pricked up and he grew fierce in the face. What kinda testing was that? The last time he heard something like 'testing center', it had been when he and the others had infiltrated into one of the ranches, namely the one run by Kvar. Needless to say, he hadn't been too happy with what he had found.

"What's that?" He demanded sharply, his grip on the bars so tight, the iron would have cried 'uncle' had it been living. "Did they hurt you? Because if they did-"

"No, it didn't hurt. We're okay." Genis interjected, erratically waving his hands up and down in an attempt to calm Lloyd down. "The children testing center is where they take kids when they're alone and without an adult. It keeps kids off the streets and thus keeps the crime rate down."

"Oh, I get it." The brunette boy nodded in response, having calmed down a tad after he registered it hadn't been for subjects for exspheres. "But why do they call it the 'testing center'?"

"They perform this test on everyone who goes in there. It tells them who is who and whether or not the kid is an urchin. If there's a missing kid, they can return them to their parents, but if they're an urchin or orphan..." The tiny half elf replied simply, brushing his spiky bangs out of his face. Lloyd frowned again.

"Then why are you here?" He asked curiously. "And why'd you trail off about the-"

"We don't.. we don't know where Mother is, and according to Raine, Father could be alive or not, it's anyone's guess. But since Raine and I didn't match up with any adults in their computer system, the directors of the center stuck us in the Orphanage." Genis hastily interrupted, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Lloyd instantly felt sheepish and guilty. His warm cherrywood eyes fell to the side and he didn't have the heart to even look his tiny friend in the eye, nor did he have anything in his mind that he could say that would have fixed. He'd never once asked about Genis or the Professor's parents, though he never would have asked the professor anyway. She seemed sensitive about parents when the subject of his own came into conversation, so he didn't think it was all that prudent to pry. At least he had found out what had happened to his mother, even if it had been a rather horrific account. Genis and the Professor didn't even know where their's was. And to top it off, he had just bluntly asked out of the blue without thinking and probably really made Genis really uncomfortable in the process.

'Smooth.' Lloyd groaned in his mind, the full weight of his faux pas bearing down on his shoulders. 'Why don't I just get a megaphone and do an impression of that announcer at the coliseum?'

A thick blanket of reticence smothered the air and sucked all of the sound out, only leaving the two small boys and their awkward pause. Lloyd tapped the heel of his shoe on the cobbled walk with a 'tip tap' cadence and Genis fiddled with the strap buckle of his light blue overalls, which sat over his black shirt that reached 3/4 of the way down, the tarnished bronze button falling prey to his four year old fingerprints. His soft blue shoes scuffed the dusty dirt on the other side of the gate, the dry earth settling on the canvas surface, only to be dusted off again. Lloyd wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't think of anything that would soften the already stinging blow. His creativity and tact were failing him miserably, only sharpening the already tense atmosphere.

It seemed like an eternity until one of the boys finally had enough.

"So, now we live in the orphanage." Genis said suddenly, the pregnant silence apparently getting to him just as much as it had Lloyd. "That's that building right over there." He stuck out a petite finger and pointed to the large turreted and stone building, painted in a harsh shade of pewter gray and unnaturally angular roofing.

"What?" Lloyd's jaw fell to the ground and his grip on the bars grew slack, the shock having snapped him out of his sheepish stupor. "Is that what this place is? It looks more like a haunted castle than a place where kids live."

"Yeah, that's the orphanage building. And this area outside is the half elf side. They stick all the kids out here during the day so they can run around, unless the weather's bad. Then we get stuck inside in the main sleeping room." Genis stuck a hand through the bars and snaked it around so it pointed to the other compound on the left of the gothic building, one that was much greener and even looked to have more than one tree.

"That over there is the human side. We're separated by the huge staff building in the middle. They do everything separate from us, even eat and sleep in different rooms." The four year old sorcerer explained to his human counterpart.

"Why do they do that?" Lloyd asked, his chestnut eyebrow caulked at an angle. "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

Shoulders drooping, the four year old locked eyes with Lloyd, the baby blue irises boring into his own cherrywood pair.

"It's because we're half elves. They don't want half elves kids around human children." Genis replied forlornly, his voice wavering. The tiny boy then broke his eyes away from Lloyd's own set and stared at one of the wilting shrubberies that graced the side of the fence near his thin leg.

"Even in an orphanage, they hate us."

Lloyd stared at his childhood friend, the full weight of what he said settling in. Even in an orphanage, society was still imbuing the kids with the values of discrimination and hatred of others who were different for things beyond their control.

"That's... that's..."

"And it's not just us." The half elf mage added sadly. "There's also a couple dwarf kids in here too. I haven't talked to them much, but from what I can tell, they're on our side in here because they're different too."

"Dwarves too?" Lloyd repeated as he continued to stare at his friend from the other side of the bars.

"Yeah." Genis nodded, "They don't get treated as bad as the half elves do, but it's not really a walk in the park. Non humans aren't exactly well received around here. You aren't human, you get treated like trash or you get ignored completely."

Lloyd's fingers around tightened around the caste iron bars of the gate and his knuckles grew white. Just because they were different and not what people deemed normal, they were getting the short end of the stick and Lloyd didn't like it, not one bit.

'They're all getting treated like this and they're just kids?' The spiky haired six year old growled in his head. 'That's just wrong. I bet most of them would be pretty nice if they were given the chance.'

Like Altessa, Kate, Genis, the Professor, the guys at the ERL and Dad. They didn't fit into social norms, but they were all good people regardless. Race didn't matter, not to him anyway.

'And it shouldn't matter.' Lloyd added sharply. 'People should get a chance to be themselves before they get judged for what they are instead of who they are.'

The idea of anyone viewed as abnormal being treated as second class struck a chord with Lloyd and made him glare intensely at the wrought iron barrier between himself and his half elven friend. He hadn't really ever been considered normal by the other children in Iselia, since he didn't actually live inside the small town and he wasn't originally from there. From his spiky hair to his cherrywood eyes to the fact he was raised by a dwarf, the kids liked to keep a sizable distance away from him. Even though it had been subtle, Lloyd wasn't dense enough to miss that he had been treated differently from the other children in the village by the adults too, albeit it probably wasn't as intense or severe as what the kids inside the turreted fortress of an orphanage were going through. In fact, it probably made his experiences seem like a skip through a field of daisies.

'Unless they were allergic to flowers. Then it would probably be a lot more accurate.' Lloyd added to himself, his internal voice sounding strained and tense. His memories echoed in his head, and while remembering didn't send him into a rage, he couldn't say it didn't make him moderately agitated.

'Though,' Lloyd thought as his strangling grasp on the bars ran slack and his fingers fell away, 'I always had Colette, Genis, the Professor to count on when I needed a hand, not to mention Dad.'

As he was a dwarf Lloyd wasn't related by blood, but Lloyd'd always had Dirk, his foster dad around whenever he needed a hand or some advice, someone older and who had seen more than he had. The Professor and Genis had always helped Lloyd out with his homework, the Professor, spending hours after school had ended, engaging in a futile attempt to teach Lloyd algebra, and Genis, who would just do his homework for him.

Even for a short while, he'd even had Kratos, who he thought of as a teacher and mentor, helping him out when he needed it and giving him tips on how to properly fight in his own blunt and effective way. Even though Lloyd would have rather eaten the professor's cooking creations than have admitted it now, he'd secretly idolized the older man and tried emulating his mannerisms, inflections in speaking and even how he presented himself. While he was alone, he even practiced in front of a mirror occasionally when he knew for sure that Zelos was nowhere near the vicinity.

Though, that had all been ripped out from under him at the Tower of Salvation, but now...

.. now he didn't really know what to think of Kratos anymore. Teacher, enemy, cryptic guy in the shadows, he didn't have a clue. It was far too confusing for one little Lloyd to take all at once.

Still, regardless, he had someone he could trust, someone he could rely on when things got tough.

Who did Genis and the Professor have? Who was going to help them and who could they count on?

His eyebrows set in a determined expression, Lloyd turned on his heels and began to march away from the bars of the courtyard that belonged to the intimidating and thoroughly creepy orphanage, his scarf billowing over his shoulder.

"Lloyd? Where are you going?" Genis called after him, his head sticking through the wrought iron bars, since that was the only part of him that fit.

"Don't worry, Genis." Lloyd called back, a confident, yet perseverant grin on his face. "You can count on me. I'll get you and the Professor out of there."

"How?"

"I'm gonna go get help."

"Lloyd, wait!" Genis yelled after Lloyd, but it was too late. Lloyd was long gone into the crowd of people, thoroughly set on his new mission.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen is now completed, mwahah.**

**Genis: What's gonna happen to us now?**

**Me: Oh, you'll see... you'll see.**

**Lloyd: That's not very settling.**

**Me: Please review!**


	16. Clashing Perspectives

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all once more! I come with a new chapter for you all and such!**

**Lloyd: What took you so long to update? You left it at a cliffhanger!**

**Me: It's hot out. Hot weather leads to sluggish typing fingers.**

**Lloyd: Really?**

**Me: Yes, it's a proven fact. If you don't believe me.. well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.**

**Anywho, ignoring him, a huge set of thank yous to all of you who favorited, read, alerted and eat cupcakes, plus humongous thanks to Bubble-Headed Brunette, freakyanimegal, Kiomori, AngelofaWhiteNight, Destiny's Light, 11221122, silverstaraptor, ThePurpleRose, and silent romantic for reviewing! Your reviews all made my week!**

**So, here's the disclaimer.**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, we would be able to see Kvar get offed with playback in slow motion.**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Clashing Perspectives

By the time Lloyd finally found the Sybak university's main research headquarters that Kratos had written about in his letter, night had already fallen over the university town, darkness cloaking it for all it was worth. The last few remnants of twilight glimmered weakly over the indigo sky, though only just, and Lloyd had to squint as he ran, barely avoiding running into two mailboxes and a hydrant as he sprinted.

The research building looked a lot like Lloyd had remembered it, aged, yet well kept bricks lining the outside with the green lush shrubberies lining the walk and giving it a 'lived in, but well taken care of' feel.

'Why was it so hard to find this place?' Lloyd asked himself as he ran towards the open main door and trotted into the huge building. 'It's not like it got up and moved on its own. Why did it take me so long?'

Maybe it was the fact he was smaller and everything else looked so large, maybe it was because he had gotten turned around a number of times and circled the main square for the good part of an hour, or maybe it was because he had refused to check his map of the city with the claim that he didn't need to. Well, regardless of the reason, he found the building, didn't he? That's all that mattered, or at least, he thought so.

Lloyd didn't slow down his running until he reached the desk next to the enormous skeleton that hung in the center of the anteroom and fell against it, practically out of breath.

"Excuse me, I'm trying to find a man named Kratos around here. He said he'd be here." Lloyd gasped for air as he peeked over the counter, his cheeks flushed and pink. The receptionist, who looked to be barely twenty, pointed down the hall and popped a bubble from the gum she was chewing.

"Oh, you must be the boy that he mentioned earlier. He's down the hall in the room right next to the top of the basement stairwell."

"Thank you!" Lloyd beamed gratefully at the receptionist, flipped his scarf over his shoulders again and took off at full speed down the hall. Turning on his heel, Lloyd veered down the main hall down past the center chamber until he reached the door at the very end, and latched his hand on the doorknob.

"Kratos! It took me forever to find you and-" The shrunken boy began, but stopped mid sentence and stared at Kratos, who was leaning over a table with what looked like old blueprints spread out and about.

"Are you.. are you wearing glasses?"

The bespectacled angel glanced up from his work, nodded once and then turned his gaze back downward.

"Yes. I use them for reading purposes and as I am reading, they seem appropriate." He responded, turning over one of the papers with a flick of his fingers.

Tapered eyebrow raised, Lloyd thought for a minute and scratched the side of his head.

"Isn't that just for old people?"

Kratos shot him a glare that would have crippled a distance runner.

"Uh.. not that I'm saying that you're old or anything, but I thought only old people wore those." Lloyd backpedaled as fast as he could, trying to get back on Kratos' good side. He was trying to ask for a request, and calling people 'old' didn't usually help much when asking for a favor.

"Contrary to your belief, there are others who are merely slightly farsighted or prefer to wear them out of comfort." Kratos replied calmly, pulling out the second large mechanical map and reading it. "And I am not old."

"Yeah, that's right." Lloyd nodded vociferously in agreement. "You're not old until you're forty. Now that's old."

"... I see."

Lloyd winced.

".. I didn't help much, did I?"

"Not really." the angelic lord sighed candidly. "Now, what is it you want?

"Huh?"

"You ran in here at top speed, so I gather you want something. What is it?" The ancient swordmaster asked, his eyes now staring at the boy in front of him.

"Oh, right." The six year old swordsman readjusted the oversized scarf about his shoulders and then shifted his swords into place in an attempt to make himself more presentable. "When I was trying to find you, I ended up getting lost and I wound up outside of this creepy building. It was really huge and all scary looking, so I didn't want to get closer, but I did anyway, 'cause I was curious."

"Go on."

"Well, I was looking at it when all of a sudden, someone called my name. It was Genis."

"Genis?"

"Yeah, Genis and the Professor. Only problem is that they're stuck inside that huge place and can't get out. I promised I'd rescue them, so I came here to get your help."

"My help."

"Yeah, it would really help if you gave me a boost over the fence or unlock the main gate or maybe even-"

"Lloyd.." Kratos took off his glasses and warily pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have a lot of work to do, so no."

'No, no, don't say 'no'. I need your help.'

"C'mon, please?" Lloyd pleaded persistently, his cherrywood eyes shining with hope. "I really need your help and-"

"Lloyd, you can beg for hours, but the answer is still no."

"Why?" Lloyd's spiked hair bristled, as did the rest of him. Why would Kratos ignore someone who needed help? Was it more important to stare at a machine's innards than help a living person?

Lloyd doubted that.

"Because it is far too late for you to be galavanting around Sybak on a plan you have obviously not thought through." The older man replied tiredly, still rubbing the bridge of his nose where his glasses had perched.

"What's there to think about?" The idealistic elementary schooler countered challengingly. "My friends are in trouble. I can help. Therefore, I'm going to help and get them out of there."

"And it is that style of simplistic thinking that has gotten you into a number of distasteful situations in the past, if you recall." Kratos pointed out flatly, his eyes no longer on his blueprints. "You did what you thought was the right thing, and yet it caused many tragedies in the aftermath due to your lack of insight. While your intentions were well meant, they caused more harm than good in the grand scheme of the world."

"So you're saying I should just leave them there to rot?"

"That wasn't my intended point, but I suppose you could say that essentially, yes."

Lloyd's temper flared. He valued his friends higher than just about anything else, and the thought of even thinking of intentionally leaving them when they needed him was about as blasphemous as one could be in the book of Lloyd.

"I can't do that! They're my friends and I can't turn them away when they're in danger!" He exclaimed, his hands balled into fists at that point. Kratos eyed Lloyd's sudden surge of anger, sighed and shook his head exasperatedly.

"While I suspect you believe otherwise, chances are very likely they are probably safer where they are now." He responded coolly, his nerves not at all touched by Lloyd's rash anger of youth.

"That place looks like a prison!" Lloyd argued hotly, his cheeks rosy and pink. "There are bars and a huge wrought iron fence and everything. They can't be safer there!"

"And yet they are."

"How do you figure that?"

"As I said before, you do not see that it is safer because you do not WISH to. When you do not see the same point as another, you automatically assume that you are right because what you believe seems to be the best method to solve the problem at hand."

"Your view is narrow."

Narrow? Lloyd'd give him narrow. If Kratos was going to use the 'narrow' argument, Lloyd knew how to play that game.

"You mean like with the world regeneration journey and how the only way to save the world is to let Colette die?" The former teenager shot at Kratos, his voice young, yet very powerful.

For the first time in the entire argument, Kratos broke his eye contact with Lloyd and looked off to the left corner of the room, his expression unreadable. Though, after a split second, his eyes locked back with Lloyd's and stared unwaveringly at the small scale six year old.

"That is a different circumstance."

"No it's not, it's the same thing! You're being a hypocrite!" Lloyd barked tersely. "I can't leave them there to rot in a prison! It's not fair-"

"Life's not fair, Lloyd."

At that precise point, three months worth of anger, rage, sadness and resentment that had been stuffed behind a brick wall in the cellar of Lloyd's heart burst out of his ribcage, and exploded out through his mouth.

"Don't give me that 'wise and knowledgeable' bull!" Lloyd roared, his gaze locked on the older man, his eyes filled with resentment and fury. "You act like you're so calm and collected and you know everything, but in the end, you're just a plain lackey, just like all the other desians and angels of Cruxis, too afraid to tell that blonde nutball 'no' and think for yourself! You just go with the easiest way out, no matter who gets hurt! You're no better from any of the other desians!"

"That's why you're just fine with the idea of Colette dying and you even tried to take her away so she would die! It's easier to give Yggdrasill what he wants instead of doing what's right!" Lloyd's fists were so tight now, his hands were starting to bleed where his nails had dug deep gashes into the flesh. Though, he didn't care. He was too enraged to care.

"Just because I did a lot of stuff I regret in the past doesn't mean I can just ignore what's happening right now because it's easier for me to deal with myself if I do! I've learned from my mistakes and I know I made them, I remember everyday, but I can't sit idly by while my friends are in trouble by thinking 'oh, it's better for them if they're left in a freaky prison with no one to help them'. I can't assume that it's safer because I want it to be. I'm not going to turn a blind eye to what's right in front of me because I may not like what I see, that's not right!" While Lloyd continued on his wrathful rant, atop Lloyd's left hand, raw and bloody from his death grip with his fingers, the glimmering exsphere that sat on its nest of a keycrest flashed violently, its light flickering brightly like a bolt of lightning.

Strangely enough, so did Lloyd.

"I won't be like you!" Lloyd's voice echoed through the otherwise flat, acoustically dead room, while the rest of his body flickered in sharp bursts of light.

Kratos stood still as a corpse, staring at the small boy in front of him in shock as the waves of mana erupted from his small frame, an exorbitant amount of life energy pulsing the walls with raw power and energy, making it actually difficult to breathe.

Although Lloyd had no idea what he was doing, as his attention was a bit preoccupied with his fury at Kratos, intense flares of mana were pouring out of him and pooling out onto the floor, filling the room and everything in it with his life energy.

Blinking woozily due to his sudden loss of mana, the young boy's eyes focused back from his world of agitation just in time to see Kratos' eyes trailed from the enraged glare on the boy's face, then to his slender boyish frame and back again.

"Lloyd-"

"No, I'm done listening to you!" The livid boy cut him off, his eyes still watery and filled with rage, not noticing what was happening around him. "You abandoned us when we needed you the most at the Tower of Salvation because it was better for you and only you. You left us to die and didn't even try to stop Yggdrasill when he was about to kill us. If it hadn't been for the renegades, we'd all be dead right now. So why I thought you would be any different now, I don't know! You've made it clear on where you stand, so I'll go help them myself!

"I'm not going to abandon my friends just because it would make my life simpler! I'm not cold and heartless like you!"

Unable to even think straight anymore, his anger too overpowering, Lloyd roughly turned on his heel, his mana's emission cut off completely, dashed out of the room, down the hall and didn't look back.

He wouldn't.

If he did...

Kratos would have seen the water tracks on the side of his face.

* * *

"Huh?" Colette looked from her sandwiches and her large eyes widened, the pupils of her blue eyes sharply dilated. The blonde had just taken a large bite of her late lunch, now dinner and frowned worriedly, the piece of fruit sandwich still packed into her cheek like that of a chipmunk. Adjacent from the seat she had taken on the surface of his desk, the renegade commander now reinstated as a sitter glanced in her direction and raised an eyebrow at her sudden jolt.

"What is it, Colette?" Yuan asked, his aquamarine eyebrow still aloft. The pewit acolyte swallowed her piece of sandwich and pointed up at the ceiling of his office.

"Did you feel that?" She asked, taking another bite out of her sandwich. "That pulse of mana in the air." Yuan blinked and then closed his eyes, searching for any abnormal flare of mana in the nearby area. Sure enough, he could feel something faint, though the only reason it was faint was because the signal was coming from very far off.

".. yes, I do believe I can feel it." Yuan replied, feeling another migraine coming on. Colette finished off her second sandwich, picked up a third and bite into it, pieces of fruit and jam smeared across her face.

"It felt like something just surged. Like someone with a huge amount of mana got really angry and just let it all out." She added, picking up the napkin that the angelic half elf had given her and cleaning off her face. Yuan had supplied her with a napkin for two reasons. One, it was polite to offer one, and two, it was insurance so that in the event she needed one, she wouldn't use his cape as a substitute.

"Mm.. though, I think was someone rather than something." Yuan corrected, rubbing his temples with his hands. Whatever it had been, there had been nothing less than a surging eruption of mana, as even the mana in the room was becoming difficult to endure.

He knew the surge of mana came from a person, however it did not feel like that of a normal being, elf, half elf or human. It was different, like the difference between grape and orange juice. While they were both juice, they tasted quite differently and were very different from one another. Though, this was so different, in the juice world of comparisons, it would have been close to pineapple.

No doubt about it, while it had been very faint in comparison to his own in concentration, there had definitely been a surge of angelic energy from far away. If anything, it felt like the mana signature a chosen would acquire while enduring the ritual of world regeneration, though there were no hints of losing any abilities like the chosen's mana would give away. Just raw power, no soul stealing side effects.

However, there were only four beings in Tethe'alla who possessed that kind of mana. One was himself, and he could safely say that his mana had not undergone any drastic fluctuations all day. He had a headache, but that was about it. It hadn't been Kratos either, as Yuan could still sense his unyielding presence from far away and it felt the same as it always did. Besides, neither he, nor Kratos were fledglings and the only two candidates for that were either in Altamira looking for friends, or sitting on his desk, munching on a sandwich. Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose. It made no sense that though all four of them had not changed in mana status at all, why did he feel the presence of another angel, albeit a fledgling...

.. unless...

..wait a minute.

"It couldn't be.. that.. evolving to a higher state... could it?" Yuan muttered to himself, as he realized what the final destination of his logical train of thought was. "No.. couldn't be. It's far too early for something like that to happen... unless..."

"Hm? I'm sorry, I missed that." Colette tilted her head and leaned in, her third sandwich still in her tiny paws.

"It's nothing." Yuan looked up and leaned back in his chair, his head resting fatiguely on the rest. "Eat your sandwich."

" 'Kay."

* * *

"Stupid Kratos... this is all his fault." Lloyd snorted crankily as he scaled the side of the wrought iron gate that surrounded the orphanage, glaring as he did. "I can't believe he made me so mad, I accidently cried." Ever since he'd stormed out of the research building on the far side of Sybak, the first grade fighter felt like death and consequently had been in a royally foul mood. His stomach was killing him, as was his head and he had to fight the urge to pass out every single time he took, let alone the fact he was dancing with pressure altitudes as he climbed.

"Ugh, why does my head hurt so much?" He groaned, desperately wishing he could rub the side of his forehead to ease the pain. "Ever since I got mad at Kratos and yelled at him, my stomach's killing me and I feel horrible. I know I exploded at him, but man I really DO feel like I exploded. 'Just pick up pieces of me and put me in a heap' kinda exploded."

"I feel sick to my stomach too." The boy added unhappily as he finally reached the top of the gate and sat there between the spiked pegs. "I'm starving." Breakfast or rather, late lunch seemed so long ago and the only thing he could feel in his stomach was a heavy rock that rolled around in the pit of his stomach, only making him more nauseous.

"It's not like it's my fault about what I said, he was the one being the stubborn and 'holier than than thou' jerk who wouldn't help people right in front of him." Lloyd sighed, one arm latched onto the fence and the other wrapped around his stomach.

"But... I dunno why, but just thinking about how I exploded at him really left a bad taste in my mouth. I shouldn't have lost it like that.. when this is over.. I probably should apologize. I did kinda go off the handle a bit.." Shaking his head, the petite boy perched on the fence looked up at the starry night sky, paused, snorted angrily and flipped his scarf over his shoulder.

"But, it's not like none of that stuff wasn't true! He's got no right to tell me to ditch my friends because it's 'the better decision'." Lloyd mimicked Kratos mockingly and exhaled agitatedly again in irritation.

"Like I'm gonna listen to him. He tried to kill us at the Tower of Salvation, let alone the fact he stood by while Yggdrasill sword slapped me into a pillar! That hurt!" It had too. While he hadn't let on to the others, the injuries sustained from that one blow had stayed with him for the good part of three weeks, no matter how much the professor healed him. Why they healed so slowly, he honestly didn't know. Perhaps over all else, it was his pride that had been injured the most.

"Well.. he probably wasn't trying to kill us when we were fighting him." Lloyd relented grudgingly as he began to climb down on the other side of the fence. "But that's just it! He was toying with me the whole time, made me look like an idiot and then beat us anyway!" Too incensed with his one man rant, Lloyd wasn't looking where he was climbing, dropped down into the main compound of the orphanage's yard and landed right into a prickle bush.

"Yeow! Ow, ow, ow.. ..but.." The tiny boy pulled a bramble out of his hair and sighed remorsefully, his eyes back on the moonlit evening sky. "I shouldn't have said all that stuff. It was uncalled for. Maybe... I should... say something later.. like an apology for losing my temper." Glaring at himself for losing focus, Lloyd slapped the side of his head and set his boyish visage in a determined expression, his hands curled into fists and ready.

"Argh, I don't have time to think about apologizing to him for telling the truth. The Professor and Genis are counting on me-" Lloyd started towards the main building, but suddenly was snapped back in the air like a rubber band, where he then landed back in the sticker bush.

"Gack!" The six year old wheezed in pain, his scarf cutting off his air and the brambles stabbing him with their thorns. Turning his gaze upward, he saw that his scarf had gotten caught in between the lower pegs of the gate just above his reach, though only just.

"Urgh, stupid scarf. It's stuck." It took him a few minutes to safely dislodge himself from the sticker bush, which had really wanted him to stay for a spell, but once he did, Lloyd grabbed the ends of his thick white scarf he could reach and began to work the folds out from between the cast iron rails.

"C'mon you... just a little more and..." With an almighty tug, the scarf's fringed ends fluttered through the air and floated onto the ground, kissing it out of gratitude for its newfound freedom.

"Aha, got ya! Now I need to do is find where I'm going and-"

"Hey kid! What the hell you think you're doing?" A bright, blinding light suddenly flashed on Lloyd, the beam cutting through the night's cloak of darkness like a razor blade on a piece of paper. Eyes wide and stunned, Lloyd slowly turned around in his place on the ground to see a mountain of a man, with a face like a pug and a small tuft of gray hair adorning his shiny, egg shaped head, shining his mana powered torch directly at him, his face set in a harsh stare.

Lloyd's eyes dilated.

"Uh oh."

* * *

"Altamira, oh how I've missed you!" Zelos cooed jubilantly, his arms outstretched. "It's been far too long- Oof!" His cries of happiness were unceremoniously interrupted when a cart hit the broadside of the shrunken chosen, threw him off balance and sent him soaring.

"Kid, you're in the way, move it!" The gruff kiosk operator grunted at the sprawled boy on the sidewalk and pushed the cart down the paved streets of the island resort, muttering something about 'damn kids everywhere' as he went. The puddle of kid formerly known as Tethe'alla's Chosen glanced up from where he had landed on the rough cement walk and glowered menacingly at the retreating backside of the overweight mobile shopkeeper.

"... I hate being this age." Zelos rubbed the side of his arm, now raw with road rash from landing on it.

"You can hate being that age later." Sheena replied, rolling her eyes. "We're not here to have fun. We're here to look for Regal." Turning his gaze to his ironing board chested counterpart, Zelos sighed dejectedly and brushed his long scarlet tresses out of his face and behind his shoulders.

"Fine, fine. Suck all the joy out of life, see if I care." He moaned piteously, his road rash ridden arm covered up by his flamingo pink trench coat sleeve. "Don't mind me, I'll just be over here nursing my war wound while you take away all the joy in the world. I won't care, don't me mind.

"If I did, you would care and as a result, you'd never shut up about it." The sub-sized summoner retorted curtly, not impressed by his dramatic antics. "Now, let's get moving." Zelos shoved his hands in his pockets, and while he really looked like he wanted to say something particularly snotty, Sheena's death glare curbed his impulses so he resigned to suffering in silence, albeit very loudly. Sheena didn't care. She was just happy that she got a moment of Zelos free commentary while they both walked over to the trolley that ran on the water.

"Two tickets to the Lezareno Company please." The small scale summoner requested held up two of her petite fingers to show just how many she wanted if the conductor hadn't heard her all the way. The conductor, who had been fiddling with the controls of the trolley, glanced up when he heard the pint sized ninja and looked at her skeptically.

"You have an adult with you?" He asked in a flat, yet polite voice, his hat at an incline over his eyes.

Sheena blinked.

"Um... no?"

"Sorry kid. No adult, no tickets to the Lezareno Company." The conductor replied, tipping up the brim of his hat and shaking his head.

"What? Why?"

"We can't have a bunch of snot nosed kids running around the office of the most prestigious company in all of Tethe'alla unattended." The trolley operator explained loftily whilst waving his hand in the air. "It'd be bad PR."

"But-"

"Okay, fine." Zelos interrupted, pushing himself in front of Sheena and Sheena almost off the dock. "Then two tickets to the amusement park."

"That I can do." The conductor nodded, pulled out his ticket machine and produced two tickets from the slots in the center. "That'll be two hundred gald."

Zelos reached into Sheena's pockets, pulled out the money needed and forked it over to the conductor, all the while drowning out Sheena's irate cries consisting of 'I can't believe you almost threw me off the dock!', 'Keep your hands to yourself and out of my money bag!' and 'I'm gonna pound you!' by humming a cheery tune rather pointedly to himself.

"Thank you and here are your tickets. Once inside, sit down and try not to fall off." The conductor instructed and opened the main door to the trolley, the door squeaking on its hinges. Once the door had finally opened, both Zelos and Sheena boarded the trolley and made for the far end of the trolley so the conductor couldn't hear them.

"Zelos, what are you doing?" Sheena demanded in a hushed whisper as she took her seat. "Why are we going to the amusement park?" Sitting next to her, Zelos folded his arms behind his head, rested the back of his head into his clasped hands and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't worry, Hunny. I've got a plan." He grinned lazily, his eyes half lidded and sly.

Sheena raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of plan do you have for an amusement park?"

"Oh, you'll see." Zelos replied cryptically and closed his eyes, inhaling the salty air of the ocean underneath the trolley. "You'll see. Wake me when we get there." Sheena's eyes narrowed in on the chosen's boyish face and frowned. She figured that she would indeed see what Zelos had planned, but got the feeling she wasn't going to like it much when she figured out what was brewing in that crafty red head of his.

* * *

"Lloyd!" "Lloyd, where are you?" Kratos called out into the night air as he walked down a set of vacant streets in the main square of Sybak. Stopping in his tracks, the angelic swordsman closed his eyes and listened intently, searching for any sign of the young boy.

The only thing that met his angelic hearing was the blaring echo of silence from the sleepy university town. There was no night life to speak of in a town like that, as it was strictly for study purposes, so most of the people who were awake were either studying for finals or preparing the questions for the same tests. Nothing. Just..

... eerie tranquility.

'Wonderful, still not a sound. He's nowhere in sight.' Kratos picked up his pace again and travelled down another path, past a collection of old houses dating a hundred years back. 'How could I have been so foolish as to let my own personal thoughts cloud my reaction time?'

In the confusion on his part following Lloyd's departure, Kratos had been too slow in trailing after the boy and had lost him in a sea of graduate students, all of whom were surrounding a student who had passed out. Kratos didn't know what had happened to the frail young man, but whatever that had happened must have been close to deadly. Regardless, because of the commotion, Lloyd had managed to slip right through out of his sight and disappear into the obscurity of the crowd.

As a result of his lack of foresight, Kratos had been searching for the good point of an hour, but so far had found a grand total of nothing. No white scarf, no echo of scuffing shoes against the cobbled stones...

...no Lloyd.

'This is my fault.' Kratos thought as ran a hand through his auburn curtain of hair in front of his eyes and let out a disparaging breath. 'I should have realized he would not have left his friends to stay where he believed to be unsafe. It would be highly unlike of him to not do everything in his power to help them.'

'And as a result... he departed into the night by himself in a city he does not know. Brilliant.' Stopping once more, Kratos rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and looked up at the starry sky. The far off balls of hot, pure energy twinkled hello at their longtime admirer and flickered back and forth as if they were putting on a light show that tried to calm him down. A faint smile traced the angel's features, but he quickly dropped it in place of the current crisis at hand.

'Though, what he did back in the laboratory, that mana. How did he acquire such a high amount of raw power and mana over such a short period of time?' He asked himself. Lloyd's emotional eruption led to.. something. What though, he wasn't sure. What exactly had happened?

Could it have been the exsphere that did that? Or was it something else? He wasn't quite sure. Though, while he didn't know exactly what had caused it to happen, he knew precisely what it had been that had flooded the floor inside the laboratory.

It was mana.

And it wasn't just plain mana.

'That energy he flooded the lab with..'

'That.. did not belong to a human.' The hand on the hilt of his sword subconsciously twitched in response, its grip on the hilt tightening venomously.

If Cruxis or anyone else were to find out about this... Lloyd would be in serious danger, more so than he ever could have dreamed of by just being in his new, boyish body. They would probably use his small stature to their advantage and hunt him down like one would a fox using horses and a dog team.

Kratos' eyes narrowed.

That was not going to happen. Not if he had anything to say about it.

'I have to find him before someone from Cruxis picks up on the signature.' Kratos murmured quietly to himself as he peered down the road ahead, just daring an emissary to appear so he could cleave it in two. 'I'll look all night if I have to, regardless if he is resentful towards me for what I've done. I cannot say that what he said was not the truth, nor can I deny that I do not deserve it.' Steeling his stone cold glare, Kratos veered down into another street, determined to leave no inch of the road uninvestigated.

'I'll find him.'

'I'm not going to lose him again.'

* * *

"Hey, leggo of me!" Lloyd squalled in a rasped cry as he struggled underneath the arm of the large watchman who had tucked him under his arm, his eyes watering as his lungs burned, begging for air. The watchman, who had pinned the squirt against his meaty flank with one arm, took a short glance at his latest catch and shook his head, laughing in a gruff horse guffaw, one that Lloyd found incredibly painful to hear. It sounded like someone had sent a chalkboard through a trash compactor, or something of that caliber at least.

"No can do, kid." The security guard replied, a crooked grin plastered on his doughy face while he waved his sausage like index finger back and forth. "You broke the law. You're a kid who got caught sneakin' into a building by yourself."

'But if I was caught sneaking into a building with an adult, I'd be golden?' Lloyd snarled internally, but remained silent since his voice was strained and crying for mercy.

Ever since he'd been caught during his pseudo rescue mission, Lloyd had been fighting with all he had in an effort to get loose. Though unfortunately, nothing he attempted had worked. He'd tried kicking, pushing away with the power of his still free legs, twisting his restrained torso in a corkscrew fashion, all the while bellowing insults and demands of freedom, but nothing had even barely begun to help him escape. In the end he just looked like a flailing back end of a cat who had gotten stuck halfway in the cat door because of one too many kitty treats.

In short, he looked utterly ridiculous.

'How... how did this happen?' Lloyd asked himself as he hung there limply in midair, his arms and torso clamped tightly in a one armed bear hug. 'It just doesn't make sense. Am I missing something or is my luck just that bad?' Sighing shallowly, Lloyd shook his head from side to side in an attempt to clear his thoughts.

'Okay, think Lloyd think.' The slender boy coached as he tried to calm himself down. 'Run over it again in your mind. What happened...'

'I took off my swords, stashed them in my wingpack backpack, climbed the fence and managed to land safely inside the courtyard. But then my scarf got snagged on one of the spikes on the gate and then I got distracted trying to get it down.'

It had been in that brief instant he was distracted that the watchman shined his light on Lloyd and he had been been sent in a panic. He couldn't get caught there. Not then. His friends were still in there, and he wasn't going to back out of his promise. However, his swords were still inside his backpack and as a result, he had no way of incapacitating the guard. Sure, he was fairly adept with a sword, but against the huge behemoth of a guard with just his fists and his wits, there was not a slight chance that he would have come out on top. So he did what any respectable six year old would have done if in his position.

He turned tail and ran as fast as he could, praying that he would escape, preferably with all of his limbs intact.

He'd almost gotten away too, but a stray log had snagged his shoe, sending him off balance and toppling to the ground in a six year old heap. Not letting such an opportunity slip by, the mountain of a guard had seized Lloyd and tucked him in the crook of his arm, pinning his tiny torso and arms into the inside of his elbow. Once that had happened, Lloyd's chances of escape were virtually unattainable.

Though, just because the odds didn't look too fantastic of his escape hadn't stopped Lloyd from trying. The petite boy had tried his hardest to wriggle free and escape, but all he managed to do was annoy the guard and thoroughly exhaust himself in the process. He'd already been tired and hungry before he tried breaking into the Orphanage's main courtyard. By the time the guard turned the corner past the sign that read 'Testing Facility', the sensations had escalated tenfold and Lloyd's strength was dwindling by each passing minute.

'This.. royally... sucks.' Lloyd growled menacingly in his head as he scowled at his captor. Scowling was all he could really do at that point, anyway. His arms felt like a thousand red hot needles had jabbed themselves deep inside his muscles, pinned to his sides by the large elephant of a man who proceeded to carry him like a limp sack of flour.

"Time for you to get to the testing center so we can figure out whose brat you are and return you." The guard stated lightly, tightening his grip on the boy, which only made Lloyd's lungs and muscles burn more. In a last ditch effort to get some wiggle room and perhaps so air, Lloyd wrenched up both of his slender legs and tried propelling himself away from the huge man's arm. However, because of his lack of energy, the diminutive boy's legs wavered, wobbled and drooped down towards the street's cobbled surface.

'Damn.. my legs.. why won't they work?' Lloyd demanded woozily, the pain in his arms and torso spreading through his body. He attempted moving his legs, but all they did in response were swing to and fro, completely lifeless and useless.

"Ah, gettin' tired, are we?" The guard asked, his face in a tempered grin, Lloyd's sudden limpness having caught his eye. "That's what you get for putting up such a fuss over nothin'. Well, yer in luck, kiddo. Here we are."

Groaning in annoyance at the condescension of the guard, Lloyd used what was left of his strength and wrenched his neck up in an effort to see where he was being taken. Though, when his eyes finally focused to the dim light given by a far off street lamp, all of the color drained from his face and his heart skipped a series of beats.

Underneath the lamplight of the lone hanging lantern on the street sat a small, yet sterile structure, the metallic surface of its walls glimmering faintly against the soft glow of the street light. Though, in all actuality, it wasn't the actual structure that Lloyd found to be particularly disturbing as the guard and he, albeit unwillingly, headed towards it. What bothered him was what it reminded him of. The basic design, appearance and nature of the gigantic building had a striking resemblance to that of a human ranch, more specifically the Asgard one that was run by the one being that Lloyd loathed most, Kvar. Almost instantly, Lloyd's heart began to palpitate rapidly like he had just run a marathon and the back of his neck felt clammy to the touch as it brushed against the collar of his red cotton shirt.

"That's... what is that?" Lloyd yelped in horror, frozen in shock as the pair of captive and captor headed for the huge structure's main walk.

"That's the testing center, you ninny." The guard scoffed at the boy's sudden fright and lack of knowledge. "Jeez, you got cotton in your ears or somethin'?"

'This is from the guy who looks like a walking piano.' Lloyd glowered back at the enormous watchman and frowned at the cobbled steps that led up to the testing center.

'If that's what I think it is, I'm in big, big trouble. What if the only reason Genis and the Professor didn't get experimented on was because they were half elves? I won't stand a chance because I'm human and what-' Lloyd's eyes widened and his pupils dilated abruptly as he put the pieces of his train of logic together.

'What if they find my exsphere? I don't have my swords where I can get to them fast and I won't be strong enough to fend them off!'

'Man.. where's the professor when you need her?' Lloyd groaned, his face turning an unhealthy shade of gray. 'I could really use an explosion right about now.'

The door was growing closer and closer. Not wanting to see what was going on out of anxiety that he was right, Lloyd clamped his eyelids shut and clenched his jaw tightly as the guard carrying him pushed open the doors and walked inside the main structure.

He knew he was moving, but to where he didn't know. His eyes were still tightly shut and his ears laid in wait for an evil quote, a maniacal laugh or perhaps a declaration of 'inferior being'. He wasn't sure which one he would be treated to, but as he had encountered all sorts of phrases to that degree, he figured it would come in some for or another.

However, nothing did come. Just silence. No screams from tortured prisoners, no cracks of whips from far off in the distance, not even mild chatter amongst guards as they laughed over the unfortunate predicament of all of the various inmates.

There was nothing, only pregnant silence and tranquility. It was so tranquil that Lloyd felt his teeth being set on edge and, though he couldn't move, he desperately wanted to hit something.

'Just because I can't hear them doesn't mean they aren't there. Maybe the walls are sound proof or something, like the Professor said the Remote Island Ranch had.' Lloyd told himself sharply so as to not relinquish his closed eyes. It had been eerily quiet when they had all infiltrated that ranch in particular, but the horrors that occurred within those walls still haunted him.

However, his reminiscence of those past terrors ceased when he felt himself being placed on a smooth, leathery surface with what felt like a thin sheet of paper that ran underneath his legs and down towards the earth. His arms also ceased being glued to his sides, but he could still feel one hand on his shoulder, who he guessed was the guard's, so he just sat there, eyes still clamped shut.

He tried to keep his eyes shut out of apprehension to what he might see, but eventually Lloyd's curiosity finally got the better of him and, acting on its own volition, one of his eyelids peeked open a centimeter. However, when his eye registered the scene in front of him, his other popped open and stared incredulously.

He was sitting on an examination table of some sort in a relatively sterile looking room, the paneling on the walls a dull grey and the soft ceramic tiles adding to the disinfected ambience, none of which were particularly impressive. While the outside of the center had a striking resemblance to the many human ranches that Lloyd had encountered previously, the inside was considerably less striking. It was a lot less high technological, for one. The machines didn't glitter and sparkle like the ones in the control rooms at the three human ranches he'd visited, and the walls weren't lit with that strange light the professor had called 'fluorescent illumination'. There were instead beams of light that hung from the ceiling in bars, giving off a yellowish light, which in turn made everything in the room look fairly sickly in complexion.

Though, for some odd reason, a few burning candles sitting on the counter were an unusual shade of burgundy, a color Lloyd wouldn't ever have pictured a candle to have.

'What's that smell?' He sniffed the air, his eyebrow caulked in interest. 'It smells like raspberries.'

"Hey, I've got a live one!" The watchman bellowed down the hall of the testing facility, his voice echoing off the walls and making Lloyd's head spin from the reverberations in the process.

"Oh?" A voice called from outside the examination room and matched the echo, though the newcomer's voice wasn't nearly as painful. Upon hearing the response from the unknown arrival, both the guard and Lloyd's eyes shifted to see a thin shadow of a man enter the examination room. Lean and lanky with a mop of jet black hair, the man wore a simple lab coat that hung off his frame like a poncho over a branch and his standard school uniform indicated that he was probably just an assistant sent over from the university for an internship, or perhaps a grad student.

"Yeah, I caught this runt running around and-"The guard nodded in response, but then paused, as if something had hit him upside the head with a shovel. His face then contorted in shock and he grimaced horribly, his expression looking like his face had been melted. Judging by the expression on his fat visage, Lloyd had the suspicion that the guard didn't think too highly of the man who had entered the room. That or he smelled something really, really bad.

... wait.. something DID smell really bad.

No, really bad would have been a vast improvement. It was downright horrid. Lloyd hadn't smelled it at first, as he was much lower than the guard was in the air and scents sink from top to bottom upon entering a room, but the instant it hit his senses, he desperately wished he didn't have a nose.

The stench was downright putrid, and the once starving Lloyd found he no longer had an appetite. He wasn't sure if he ever would again. The pure assault on the senses made his eyes cross and water, overpowered by the complete agony that his nose was being forced to endure.

"What the hell is that dreadful smell?" The guard demanded, clapping his free hand that wasn't holding Lloyd shoulder over his nose. "It smells like somebody ran over a rotting eggbear." The young man in the oversized lab coat let out a sigh, glanced down at his clothes and pinched the bridge of his nose, his glasses falling askew on his thin face.

"That? That's 'Eau de Romance'." The intern replied bitterly, tearing his eyes away from his lab coat.

"Eau de what what?"

"It's a cologne for attracting people. It just came out in this stupid mail order catalogue. One of the guys down in the testing labs put it on and it made the entire building reek." The intern replied as he pushed up his glasses. "We've been trying to get the god awful smell out all day with candles, but nothing's working. I got stuck working with that moron, so now my clothes smell like it too."

"Because of that horrible stuff, one of the other guys that I share my station in the lab with passed out and hit the concrete floor hard. Poor Aster, he's still unconscious."

"Huh. So that's why you're burning all these scented candles." The watchman nodded in understanding, the tiny tuft of grey hair on the peak of his head flopping back and forth.

"Yeah. It was a lot worse before we did, believe me." The greasy looking intern added tersely as he grimaced at his expensive lab uniform, now ruined by the absolutely atrocious smell. "I'm burning these clothes when I get home. The smell is never going to come out, not even if I ran it through the wash a thousand times."

"I'm just happy the mail order catalog announced they were going to retire this for something else, 'Eau de Seduction'. Urgh.. it's gotta be an improvement, because there is no way they could possibly make this stuff smell worse. So anyway, where'd you find one this time?" He asked as he changed the subject off the stench that plagued his clothes, his hands stuffed precariously into the pockets of his lab coat.

"Amazingly enough, trying to sneak into the orphanage." The guard replied, holding Lloyd out by his arms and chest so the newbie scientist could get a better look at him before setting him back down on the bench.

"Huh. You're a weird kid, shrimp. Most kids try to sneak out, not in." The scientist leaned in and grinned at Lloyd, who didn't smile back. Instead of being overly friendly out of nervousness or shaking because he was scared of his mind like most kids his physical age would have been, Lloyd's eyes narrowed and he sized up the scientist, determining whether or not he was a sizable threat. He was still not entirely sure of what was going on, but he'd learned a long time ago that when he didn't quite understand the situation, the last thing he wanted to do was let his guard down.

"Yeah, I'm just odd. Now leggo." The pint sized swordsman replied curtly, no trace of humor haunting his voice. Snorting in amusement rather than fright, the scientist shook his head and ruffled the boy's unruly chestnut hair, not at all the reaction Lloyd had been hoping for. He honestly had expected the scientist would have been intimidated by his sheer prowess, but unfortunately, as he was still a six year old, his power to intimidate had diminished greatly to the scary status of the average hamster.

"Not yet, kiddo. We need to send you through the basic testing that all brats like you go through. You've got a bunch of spunk, but that doesn't mean you get to get out of it." The medical technician replied wryly, his thin and limp hair falling into the space between his glasses and his eyes. He brushed it out of his face, as the black hair drifting into his eyes was probably a normal occurrence, got to his feet and strode back over towards the counter that sported so many scented candles. Reaching into a drawer labeled 'sample equipment', the intern pulled out two packets with sticks protruding from the top corner, a vial, some gloves, a length strand of rubber tubing and a very long, very sharp needle attached to a syringe.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Lloyd asked warily as the guard set him back down on the examination table, his eyes narrowed on the silver needle, it's shaft glinting in the lab light. The intern flicked the needle twice with his thumb and forefinger and, after he deemed it satisfactory, placed it on a rickety old metal tray with both packets and the rubber tubing.

"We need a sample of your blood to do this, so stretch out your arm and hold still." He replied coolly and started over towards Lloyd, his thin hands carrying the tray along with him.

"Wh-what?" Lloyd defiantly hugged his arms around his torso, welding them to his sides with all the strength he'd gotten from his adrenaline fueled second wind. "No way, that's mine, thanks a lot, and I want to keep it in my arm."

It wasn't that the idea of having his blood drawn wholeheartedly bothered him. He hadn't minded giving Kate a sample of his blood when she had planned to test his blood for any hints of his size reduction, nor did needles scare him. He didn't like them much, but in truth he wasn't afraid of them. The sight of blood made him a little anxious, he'd admitted that much to Regal, but not in such a way that would cause him to react like he had either.

The problem was he had no clue what the weird grad student was going to do and handing out taste testing of his DNA for Martel knows what didn't sound like the smartest thing to do.

"I'm not handing over my blood for anything if I don't know what you're gonna use it for." Lloyd glared menacingly at both the intern and the watchman who occupied the examination room with him. While he might have been tired, hungry and deeply wishing he was back at the research building with Kratos, Lloyd wasn't about to let two complete strangers take some of his blood away without at least a fight and a hearty explanation. Noticing the tiny boy's sudden strength in his voice, the intern glanced over at his newest test subject and sighed dejectedly.

"Relax, kid. We're just going to see who you are." He explained, sliding one of the latex gloves over his hands and snapping it over his wrist.

"I'm Lloyd." Lloyd shot back from his forced seat on the examination table. "That's all you need to know."

"Yeah, well, unfortunately for you, that's not enough. Just your name won't help us in the long run. We need your DNA to figure out what race you are, where you belong and who your parents are." The young scientist-to-be countered, setting down the tray on the side table next to the examination table where Lloyd still sat.

"My.. my parents?" Lloyd asked suddenly, his large cherrywood eyes locked on the intern's own hazel set. Temporarily forgetting that he was highly annoyed, a powerful surge of adrenaline rushed through his mind and sped his heart up to a quick and fluttery cadence. While he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of being jabbed with a needle, the thought of finding out more about where he came from interested, scared and excited him all at the same time.

'I could find out about who I am and where I came from.. maybe even some more details about my parents and where I was born.' The diminutive boy's thoughts raced in his head, his breathing ragged and rushed. 'At the very least, I'd be able to learn more than just who my mom was. What about.. my dad? My real dad?'

He loved his foster dad, Dirk, tremendously, there was no doubt about that, but just because that was true hadn't meant he hadn't spent countless sleepless nights trying to imagine what his real dad had been like. All he'd been able to recall from all those years ago was something about the stars, but everything else.. he didn't remember.

'I've always wondered what he was like.. he's probably not alive now because of the desians, but...' Lloyd's tapered eyebrows furrowed into his round childish eyes. 'Would I.. be able to find out more about him? Maybe what he looked like at least? Do I look more like him or Mom? I wonder...'

"Yeah, kid. That's all. So stop freaking out, be a good boy and hold out your arm." The intern responded dully to Lloyd's sudden outburst, as he pulled on the other glove and snapped it just like he had its twin. However, Lloyd didn't hear him. His voice was drowned out by another, a memory triggered by what the intern had just said.

'_Lloyd, you'll only get in the way. Be a good boy and wait here.' _

'.. Kratos...'

'...I still need to apologize for losing my temper.' The short swordsman thought solemnly as he remembered how he had lost his composure and shouted at the angelic swordsman in anger, saying whatever came to his mind, none of it remotely pleasant. Looking back on what he had done, the stone that had lodged itself in the pit of his stomach before made a fierce comeback and Lloyd grimaced as the heavy stone rolled back and forth like the coming and going of a tide. Clutching his stomach, the slender boy leaned forward over his knees and stared at the ceramic tiles that lined the floor, the silver and gray hues dancing flatly in the light of the cylindrical bulbs above.

'And I can't do that here.'

He did want to know more about where he came from and perhaps more of who his parents were, but that would have to be put on hold. After he rescued Genis and the Professor and apologized to Kratos, then he could worry about the details of his parentage. It didn't matter what he wanted, he had to think of his friends first, no matter how much he was dying to know.

"No, I don't have time for this. I'm getting out of here." Lloyd stated firmly as he stuck a leg over the side of the examination table and climbed down. "I've got stuff to do and I can't do that playing with you guys. See ya." With that, the determined boy gripped the strap of his backpack and started towards the large door at the other end of the exam room.

Groaning 'why me?' to himself, the frail intern pinched the bridge of his nose again, gazed at the burly guard and gestured to Lloyd's retreating back.

"We've got a wiggler. Get the kid, bring him back and strap him down so I can do my job, if you would." He requested tiredly, the bags under his eyes only adding to his pathetic and worn appearance.

"Right." The watchman nodded in response and strode towards Lloyd, his large and thick boots quaking against the ceramic floor. The tiles underneath the tiny boy's feet shook with each step the gigantic man took and Lloyd turned around just in time to see a huge hand stretch forward, hook the collar of his shirt in his mitt like paws and hoist him into the air.

"Hey, leggo of me!" Lloyd shrieked indignantly, both his hands clutching the watchman's forearm while his legs flailed back and forth in midair. Completely ignoring Lloyd's cries of protest, the guard stuffed the struggling boy underneath his arm again and walked back over to the examination table in the middle of the room where the intern still stood. Once there, he unceremoniously dumped Lloyd back onto the surface and, all the while pinning the young boy's chest to the table with his forearm, pulled several heavy leather belts up from the sides of the table and secured them around Lloyd's wriggling torso so he couldn't move.

"The hell are you doing to me? Let me go!" Lloyd demanded hotly, struggling against the straps that held down most of his body like a gaggle of sardines in a can. On the armrest that the intern had attached to the examination table during his excursion to the door, Lloyd's right arm had been stretched out from his torso and belted down in place, leaving the soft underside of his pale pink arm completely helpless and exposed.

'Dammit, now what do I do?' Lloyd tugged at the straps that held him captive against the leather and paper lined table in a last ditch, yet fruitless effort to escape. He strained against the leather straps that held him against the sterile lab table, but it was no use. The belts were far too tight and thick for him to break and he had no room in which he could shimmy his way out either. No matter how he looked at it, he was stuck.

After Lloyd was securely strapped to the examination table, the intern strode forward, pulled up the sleeve of his right arm and tied the piece of rubber tightly around the largest part of Lloyd's slender bicep. Almost immediately, Lloyd could feel the steady pulse of his heart in his arm, while the skin overtop the throbbing muscles turned a rosy shade due to the constricted blood flow. Nodding in approval at Lloyd's new flushed arm, the assistant leaned over the captive first grader's outstretched limb, scrutinizing eyed it for a few moments and then poked it for good measure.

"Ouch!" Lloyd squalled, his arm smarting from where the intern had poked it with his bony finger. "What the hell was that for?"

"My, what lovely veins you have." The intern smiled as he poked Lloyd's arm again, his eyes shining in the dim light. "Nice, blue and easy to spot. They are quite well anchored in the muscles in your arm too. Simply lovely."

Lloyd stared at the strange graduate student incredulously, not entirely sure how to react.

'He just complimented my vein... that's a first. What am I supposed to do? Say thank you?' The former teenager thought flatly, eyebrow raised, and then craned his neck over his shoulder so he could see exactly what the intern was talking about. Sure enough, his arm's main vein was pressed against the thin sheathe of skin for Martel and everyone to see, the royal blue hues contrasting sharply with his rosy skin and making it nearly impossible to miss.

Looking up from his own arm, Lloyd's eyes settled on the acne ridden intern who had ripped open one of the the packets with a stick protruding from the corner and pulled out what looked like a hair ball soaked in soy sauce.

"What's that brown stuff?" He asked, scrunching up his nose as the scent of salt filled his nose like someone had poured ocean water into his lungs.

"Iodine. It cleanses the area so you don't get infected." The intern replied as he hurriedly spread the thin goo onto the young boy's skin, the yellowish brown substance effectively staining his pale pink skin.

"Infected? What do you mean, infected?"

"Relax, shorty." The assistant patted his iodined arm reassuringly, though since it was strapped down, the gesture didn't have much in the way of an effect. "Barely anyone gets infected, and that's only if they have a sub par immune system." He applied the second hair ball on a stick, though albeit much slower and more detailed than the first, and, once he was satisfied with the slimy concoction on Lloyd's arm, pulled out the syringe and needle.

Now hold still and relax."

Lloyd's eye twitched. He was strapped to a table, there was a needle aimed at him and this sorry excuse for a coat rack in a lab coat was telling him to relax?

"How the hell do you think I'm gonna-"

"There, done."

".. wait... what? That's it?" Lloyd asked, stunned as the intern held a small square of cotton to his arm, undid the leather straps to the armrest and held his thin limb upward.

"Mmhm. Didn't feel it?" The assistant asked offhandedly, his eyes on the syringe, estimating how much blood he had taken from his young subject, while he still held Lloyd's arm aloft.

"No, I didn't feel anything." Lloyd shook his head, as that, with the exception of his arm, was the only part of him that hadn't been restrained.

"You must have quite the high threshold of pain. Most kids your age squall like babies when they get their blood drawn." The greasy grad student added, taking the syringe filled with Lloyd's blood over to a particularly old set of machines. Pressing a button on each of the machines, the flap from the informational drives on the front panel of the machine opened and a small clear piece of glass swung out from each machine, presenting itself to the lanky scientist. Said assistant then squirted a sample of Lloyd's blood onto each of the glass plates and pressed the series of three buttons again, which sucked the sample, glass, blood and all, into the mainframe of the machinery.

"In a few minutes, we'll get the results." The pimply intern explained as he started back towards the boy strapped on the table. "So, in the meantime while we're waiting for your results, what color bandage do you want?"

".. do you have red?"

"Sure." Nodding, the assistant pulled out a small roll of red bandages and another pad of cotton gauze from the side table and proceeded to dress Lloyd's latest injury.

"There we go. Good as new." He commented smugly as he sat back, admiring his handiwork once he was done.

Lloyd snorted.

'Yeah, good as new. Except for the fact I have a hole in my arm and I'm down one syringe of blood.' The irritated boy grumbled in his mind, but his agitation was cut off when the dinging sound of a buzzer echoed through the stagnant air. All three sets of eyes shifted to the three machines on the far side of the wall, all of which had green lights blinking through the clear plastic cases.

"There's the results." The intern sighed, getting up from his stool. He limply crossed the room, snatched all of the papers that laid in the 'out' tray and held them up to his nose so he could see what they said.

"Now, let's match it up with the basic samples and..." The intern paused, his eyes locked on the charts in front of him and froze.

"... the hell?"

"What is it?" The guard, who had remained silent, yet at the side of the intern the entire time asked, his curiosity showing on his pug like face.

"His results.. they're off the charts..." The pimply grad student gaped, his face stark white against the red dot of his acne as he flipped through each of the papers, each page making him paler and paler. After a few good minutes of trying to reverse any effects the sun may have ever had on his complexion, the young twig of a man tore his eyes away from his lab results and stared fixedly on Lloyd.

"What the hell are you?"

Lloyd's shoulders drooped and his eyebrow raised.

'Not this again.' Lloyd exhaled deeply and looked at the stunned grad student with pity that someone his age could be so stupid.

"I'm human." The first grader replied flatly, hints of annoyance creeping into his vocal inflection.

"Not a snowball's chance in hell you are." The intern scoffed disbelievingly and shoved one of the test result papers in front of Lloyd's nose. "Just look at these." His senses thrown off their keel because of the sudden paper in front of his face, Lloyd blinked several times in order to get his eyes to adjust to the new object mere inches from his face.

"I'm looking. What am I looking at?" The slight swordsman asked skeptically. All he saw was a bunch of colors and patterns, none of which made any sense to him. What was the point of all this?

"This is a race recognition chart." The intern explained, his finger on the top profile of the sheet. "It tells us what race you are by sampling your deoxyribonucleic acid and breaks it down into a chromatic scheme in which is then processed via similar trait profiling."

"... who and the what now?"

"It takes your genes and turns them into colors so we can match them up with the race chart."

"Oh. Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

Ignoring Lloyd's rather valid, yet highly irritating point, the intern tapped the paper with his index finger to gain Lloyd's attention again on the matter at hand.

"Now, this is an elf." He pointed the top chart, which was a cornucopia of bright and cheery colors, ranging from a pale yellow all the way to a deep goldenrod. Lloyd eyed it up and down and nodded for him to continue.

"This is a human." The intern gestured to the second part, which looked to be made up mostly of bright rubies, deep reds and maroons.

"This is a half elf." Orange colors dotted the chart for the standard half elf and it made enough sense, Lloyd supposed. He remembered from art class that red and yellow made orange, so a half elf's genes coming up like that didn't shock him much.

"This is a dwarf." The colors on that part were a muddy reddish-brown color, ranging from rust to burnt umber. It was slightly similar to a human, but it was just brown enough to be categorized as something completely different.

The intern looked awfully ghostly as the young boy still pinned in the examining table eyed them all and finally tapped the final chart at the very bottom of the results.

"And this... this is you."

Sighing impatiently, Lloyd looked to where the grad student had indicated, but froze when his eyes fell upon the chart labeled 'subject', his jaw falling open.

Blue.

His chart was blue.

Shades of royal blue, powder blue, sky blue, navy and midnight blue coupled slight hints of lavender, indigo, violet and deep purple accents brightly decorated all over his genetic profile, leaving the boy practically speechless, his mind frozen in shock.

"..Blue?"

"Yes, blue." The intern nodded in confirmation. "There's some purples there too, but that's the closest to a human you are."

"Blue? That's not even on the test spectrum, is it?" The guard looked at the chart as well and snorted in disbelief. "You some kind of freaky half elf gone wrong or something?"

"No, I'm human!" Lloyd protested earnestly, pulling at the leather restraints like his life depended on it. Why didn't they believe him? He'd always been human...

.. hadn't he?

"No way, squirt." The intern shook his head at Lloyd, gesturing to the guard and patting the papers with the back of his hand. "But the weird thing is, he's not close to a half elf either. His mana is all over the place. I mean, blue with purple undertones?"

"That's bizarre. Dwarf maybe?" The guard asked, his attention torn away from the seething boy inside the straps.

"Nope, he's too thin and lanky to be a dwarf or even part dwarf. Besides, his charts don't even come close to that either. He doesn't match up with anything on our charts."

"Huh, I'm outta guesses then. What does it say about the shrimp's parents?"

"That's the other weird thing. Take a look at the parentage sheet." The intern pulled out another sheet and flipped it around so the guard could see it properly. Lloyd tried to see what was written on the thin piece of paper, but the ink was too thin and the font too small for him to even make out the top line.

"One side isn't even in our computer database and the other, well... that lineage died out a really long time ago."

"Seriously?" The watchman scratched the top of his shiny balding head, the lone tuft of gray hair swaying to and fro. "That's really weird. Is it a malfunction with the system then?"

"No, I ran it on three of the other programs just now and came up with the same thing. Either way, this kid's doesn't have any live parentage and we don't even know what the hell he is. If we went by this literally, this kid shouldn't be alive."

'Wait.. what are they talking about?' Lloyd blinked, completely confused by that point. 'Shouldn't be alive? What do they mean by that?'

"So this mutant's an orphan then?"

"I'm not a mutant!"

'But... if I'm not human.. what am I? What does 'blue with purple undertones mean?'

"No doubt about it. He's not normal, even on non human standards, and has no parents that are in our database that could even possibly be alive at this point in time." The grad student flipped all three papers back onto the clipboard and folded his arms against his callow chest. "He's as good as orphaned."

"Well, there's only one place for him then. I'll drop him back off where I found him then." The guard sighed tiredly, the wrinkles in his cowls extending further down his face and turned his attention.

'Wait.. what did he just say? Drop me back off where he found me... did that mean that he was going to take me back to the..' Lloyd's eyes widened when he registered exactly what that meant and, beginning to hyperventilate, the lilliputian boy tugged at the straps with all he had. He wasn't going to live at an orphanage, not then, not ever.

He was going as a rescuer, but not a resident.

"Let me outta this thing!" The first grader demanded powerfully as his cherrywood eyes glared piercingly at both the guard and grad student.

"Not a chance, you weird little freak." The watchman shook his head, as did the intern who had resigned himself to putting away his equipment in the cabinet on the other side of the room. "It's the orphanage for you."

"I'm not going to an orphanage, let me GO!" Lloyd shouted fiercely, straining his arms as hard as he could against the leather bonds that held him down.

"You're a feisty little bugger, I'll give you that." The guard laughed hollowly, his eyes locked on Lloyd, who continued to thrash and struggle against his bindings. "But since you obviously aren't coming without a fight, we're just gonna have to knock you out."

Lloyd tried lashing out at him with his arm, but the guard easily caught it and held it aloft, though the tiny boy tried with all his might to wrench it out of his grasp.

"Tranq him if you would be so kind."

"Right." The intern nodded, pulled out a shot of yellow liquid and after swabbing the stray right arm of Lloyd's that the watchman had snagged, injected him with the tranquilizer serum.

"YEOW!" Lloyd bellowed out in indignation, but almost instantly felt the feeling in his legs, along with the ability to move, leave him and he melted against the leather and paper lined examination table, his limbs and body thoroughly useless.

'No... I can't give in yet. Genis and the Professor... they're still in trouble..' Lloyd though hazily, his vision starting to go. The room's ceiling and lights were spinning as they grew blurry and Lloyd couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. The lids were too heavy.

'And I haven't... apolo.. gized..' Lloyd's thoughts were cut off when the tranquilizer finally reached his brain and he slumped against the table, deep in a forced unconscious slumber.

* * *

**Woo, chapter sixteen finally completed.**

**Lloyd: This isn't looking too good for me. And what the heck does 'blue' mean?**

**Me: Not telling and don't be too worried. I have a plan... mwah.**

**Genis: I think it's the fact that you do have a plan that's making him so anxious.**

**Me: Yes, perhaps you are right.**

**Genis: You should be asleep right now. It's three in the morning.**

**Me: Maybe.. but the chapter had to be finished.**

**Genis: So, you going to sleep now?**

**Me: Yeah, I'm going.**

**Oh, and that reminds me.**

**I have about half of the next chapter done, but, If by some chance I don't update in time to say this, a Happy Fourth of July, Happy Canada Day, and any other holidays that are celebrated in July that I may have missed, to you all! Have fun, eat good food and watch the sparkly lights of fiery goodness in the sky.**

**Lloyd: Ooh, fireworks... *picks up fireworks***

**Me: No fireworks for you. You'll set your hair or someone else's on fire.**

**Lloyd: Aww.**

**Me: Please review!**


	17. The Orphanage

**Hey all! I've got a hand cramp right now, so I'll keep it pretty short, because if I don't, I think my wrist just might rebel and, since I need my wrist to in order to hold up my hand so I can type, I'd better do what it wants.**

**Genis: Your wrist is holding you hostage?**

**Me: I believe so. It does that sometimes.**

**Genis: Why?**

**Me: Because of that age old reason.**

**Genis: What's that?**

**Me: Because it can.**

**So, thank yous to all who read, favorited, alerted, and any of the previously mentioned goodness. Also, thank yous and a festival parade in honor of freakyanimegal, ThePurpleRose, Kiomori, Bubble-Headed Brunette, AngelofaWhiteNight, Arisu Tsuranu, silent romantic, silverstaraptor, MenrowSpirit and Destiny's Light for reviewing. Seriously, you guys rock. If the sun had burned out, you could have used me as a replacement, I was beaming so much. Thank you all so very much for your reviews!**

**Anyhoo, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, because if I did, I'd know what ending they were going to use for the OVA. I have my thoughts on that, but I have no proof nor clues as to how the lovely people at UFOTABLE studios are going to play this out. The only way I'll find out is by waiting.**

**... I don't like waiting.**

Chapter Seventeen: The Orphanage

"-oyd... Lloyd.."

Lloyd could hear something.. something far off. What or who it was, he couldn't tell. Though, it sounded like someone was saying his name.

"..Lloyd.."

There it was again, louder, clearer and more defined than before. The voice who called his name sounded very concerned from the tone and someone, though he couldn't tell who, was jostling his shoulder back and forth in an attempt to get him to wake up.

'... is that.. Genis?' Lloyd asked himself as he laid there limply, staring at the inside of his eyelids. It sounded like him, but just because that did didn't mean that it couldn't have been a trick. He'd been tricked with simpler means before, but that wasn't the time to just guess and hope it was in fact his childhood friend. The only way he'd be able to tell was if he could see, and trust what he saw from there. However, when he tried peeling an eyelid open, Lloyd found both of his eyes were glued shut by drug induced sleep and refused to work, no matter how hard he tried.

'Well, this stinks.' The shrunken swordsman, now fully awake yet unable to move glowered in his head, though he could feel his face not move an inch. 'I can't see, I can't move and I can't do anything about this.'

Though, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He could at least FEEL his face not move, that was a plus. That was about halfway there. All he needed to do was figure out how to regain control of his body and then-

"Lloyd, Lloyd wake up!" Another voice, sharper and more commanding than the first, rang through the air, making Lloyd's ears squeal in pain. Even though he couldn't see who, Lloyd didn't need his eyes to know who was right next to him. He hadn't been sure about Genis' voice at first, but the shrill demanding voice next to him needed no convincing to whom it belonged. He'd heard it far too many a time when he had been caught sleeping in class, albeit then it had been a mite lower.

'The Professor. She's here too... wait, what're she and Genis doing at the Testing Center and how-" Lloyd's thoughts of confusion were rudely interrupted when he felt his entire torso wrenched up and forward by his shirt and someone with a hand of iron and the force of a charging dragon smacked him upside his face.

"Sis, don't smack him!" Genis' voice chorused back into his ears. "I know you want him to wake up, but just because he said your smacks could wake the dead doesn't mean they'll actually wake him up!"

"It was worth a try, Genis." The Professor replied back coolly, letting the collar of Lloyd's shirt slip from her fingers. No longer being supported by his teacher's clawlike grasp, and unable to catch himself, Lloyd's limp body fell back onto the squishy platform he laid on and sank into the cushions like a potato in a bowl of pudding.

'... Ow.'

As the stinging sensation of being slapped settled into what he guessed to be his new rosy and hand print ridden cheek, Lloyd mentally took back what he said and wished he couldn't feel his face anymore.

Though, he had felt that slap more than he had anything else, so maybe he was getting some of the sensation back in his body or maybe more motor control over his body. Either way, it meant he was improving, so he'd take what he could get.

'Okay, let's try getting an eye open.' Lloyd murmured to himself as he laid there like a rag on a wet counter. That was a small enough step to get started with, right? Besides, part of his hair was tickling his nose and there was only so much he could stand. Scrunching up his nose in determination, Lloyd pried one of his eyelids apart and groggily blinked them up and down in an effort to make his pupil focus. Once his eye was successfully open, Lloyd then began moving his eye back and forth, taking in all he could so he could understand the situation. His eye didn't want to move much, given how tired and degenerated he felt, so each motion it made was like trying to roll a spiked bowling ball through a desert of sharp pointy objects that was at a steep incline. It wasn't exactly easy. Still, he got it open and moving, so that was what was important.

From what he could tell, he was lying in a rather dark, grey and thoroughly depressing room that was made out of cinderblocks and mortar. The air felt coolish, yet strangely humid, so he guessed he was on the second story of a building and it was about mid morning. He wasn't too smart when it came to books and facts, but for some reason, practical things like that he had never had a problem with. Maybe it was because knowing those facts were actually helpful or maybe because he actually cared about learning it.

Feeling slightly more confident, Lloyd tried shuffling around a little bit, and was thrilled to find that his body actually began working along with him. As he rustled back and forth against the cushions he laid on, which turned out to be a child sized bed, a familiar face peered into his eyes and lit up with a relieved smile.

"Lloyd, you're awake! That's good, I was really worried about you." The tiny half elf preschooler beamed at him, his spiky and uneven hair frilling out and about.

"..." Lloyd tried to say something, but his voice refused to work. He had attempted to say a simple 'hello' to Genis, but instead made a weird wheezing sound that he'd heard some of the older men in Iselia make right before they slipped into an 'After-late-lunch-early-dinner nap'.

'That was really embarrassing.' Lloyd groaned to himself, wishing his hand was working so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. 'And Colette put up with this for a good three weeks?' Though, Genis didn't seem to phased by his lapse in speech. He instead patted Lloyd's shoulder and hooked his left arm over his own slender shoulders.

"You'll probably get your voice back in a few minutes. I did, so did Sis. Are you okay?" Genis asked concernedly as he propped up his friend so he was sitting instead of lying there like a rag doll. Lloyd tried to support his own weight, and while he did get some of it, he was merely lucky there happened to be a headboard that he could lay against while he got the rest of the feeling in his body back.

"...w.. what...what happened?" Lloyd finally rasped out after he drop kicked his vocal chords back into commission. For some reason, his voice seemed to be one of the last things to begin working again, something he found to be quite irksome.

"You were brought here by one of the men from the Testing Facility." Genis explained, crawling onto the side of the bed next to Lloyd. "You were out cold and they said you fought so hard, they had to knock you out-"

"You idiot! What were you thinking?" The second voice interjected and the same hand as before flew through the air and smacked the first grade fighter in the cheek, which sent Lloyd reeling back in pain and into the headboard of the bed.

"P-Professor?" Lloyd blinked in bewilderment, his hand clapped over his now incredibly tender cheek. He was awake, so why did she smack him? Though, it did prove that he had regained control of most of his upper body, so there was that. Raine, his dedicated and ruin crazed professor from home, stood in front of him, her hands on her hips and a stern teacher's glare plastered about her eight year old face. In place of her old orange jacket, she had on a long tunic like shirt in muted orange underneath a poncho of the same shade, black capris that hugged her thin legs, and a pair of white ballet flats that were so small, Lloyd guessed she'd nicked off a doll.

"Who do you think?" The pint sized Professor demanded hotly, her periwinkle eyes set in a fierce and penetrating stare. "And what do you think you're doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue you."

"Yeah, good job." Genis rolled his eyes and poked Lloyd's still unmoving legs.

"Hey, I promised I would and when I said it, I meant it." Lloyd countered stiffly, reaching down and pulling his legs out of his friend's reach. "Getting caught just wasn't part of the plan."

"Lloyd... your heart was in the right place, but you need to remember to think before you act." Raine sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Your idealistic tendencies always seem to cloud your judgment. While you did what you believed to be right unfortunately did not coincide with the law and that was what landed you in here."

"I didn't know this would happen."

"I tried to tell you Lloyd, but you ran off before I got the chance." Genis added sheepishly as he twirled one of his locks of silver hair around his doll like fingers. "Anyone who tries to do anything without an adult immediately gets carted off to the testing facility, no exceptions. I'm surprised you managed to get that far out by yourself without getting at least stopped."

Lloyd's heart sank. He knew that he was doing the right thing by trying to rescue then, or at least, what he thought was the right thing, but.. sometimes when he did, more bad was done than good and innocent people got hurt because of him. Had he done it again, gone with what his heart said instead of his head? Had he gone off and done something stupid in the name of good intentions? Had Kratos been right?

"I'm sorry. I just-"

"It's okay. It wasn't entirely your fault." The professor smiled and patted Lloyd's still partially numb shoulder understandingly. "You just wanted to help and you can't deny anyone in need."

"By the way Lloyd, what are you doing on this side?" Genis asked curiously, his head tilted to the side. "This area is for non humans."

"I don't know." The shrimp of a dual swordsman shrugged. "I got taken to that testing place you were talking about, and they said I wasn't human."

"'Wasn't human'?" Genis repeated, his eyebrow raised."How can that be right?"

"Search me." Lloyd shrugged again. "But that's what the tests said and so here I am, I guess."

"Hm.. perhaps their machines were faulty." The Professor pointed out, the mention of odd test results having caught her interest.

"Maybe, but I remember something about them trying my blood on three other machines and getting the same results, so at this point, I have no clue what's going on."

"Just like any other time of the year."

"Oh, shut up, Genis." Lloyd retorted crankily. "Anyway, where am I?"

"You're in the main sleeping area for all of the non humans." Raine responded as she gestured around the room with her left hand. "We dragged you onto the bed after that man from the testing center dropped you off in the doorway."

"Oh."

"How did you get to Sybak anyway? You never did explain that." Genis pointed out, settling himself next to Lloyd and sinking into the mattress like a cat on a pillow.

"Oh, I walked here from the House of Guidance." Lloyd replied and then proceeded to explain what happened from the start when he had awoken in the Gaoracchia forest. When his story got to the part about Kratos finding him and then escorting him, Raine gasped in surprise, and Genis practically fell off the bed in shock.

"HE found you?" Genis gaped in incredulity, his tiny face contorted in disbelief.

"I'm more surprised that Lloyd was not turned into a souffle the first instant Kratos found him. It would have been quite the opportunity to merely ignore." Raine interjected as she checked behind Lloyd's ears for any kind of mind altering device that could transmit their conversations back to Cruxis, or something to that degree.

'Great, now the Professor's doing it.' Lloyd sighed annoyedly, yanking his head out of her grasp and back into the headboard with a crunch. 'Ow.'

'...what is with everyone and naming me as a food whenever Kratos gets mentioned?'

Shaking off his very minor, yet latest injury to his head, Lloyd shrugged and crossed his arms, while he allowed the small of his back to sink into the headboard behind him.

"I think he said something about chivalry and sticking to the rules. Though, apparently 'helping those who are in need' was a pretty selective one..."

"Wait.. whoa, hold on..." Genis began to piece what Lloyd had said together and stared at his friend like he was crazy. "That 'help that you were gonna get' that you were talking about.. you were talking about Kratos?"

"Yeah." The shrimp of a swordsman confirmed simply. "I thought that, if he was going with that whole chivalry thing, he would give me some help. I know he's supposed to be an enemy, but I really thought he would've helped. But in the end, he wouldn't. So I came here by myself."

"No wonder you got caught." The four year old halfling shook his head exasperatedly, his arms folded against his slight chest. "Going anywhere without an adult means instant little kid lockup."

"Hm, I wonder what he's planning, though." Raine mused aloud, her chin perched on her thumb and forefinger. "Did he say why he needed to go to Sybak?"

"No. I couldn't get any information out of him."

"Well, regardless, I'm sure that he had his reasons for helping you that far, though we may not have the slightest idea what they are, so Lloyd, continue your story." Lloyd nodded and continued where he left off in his tale, Genis and Raine listening to his every word.

"So Colette, Sheena and Zelos are okay. That's good." The tiny half elf at his side breathed out in relief when Lloyd had finished. "But what about Regal and Presea? Are they okay too?"

"I don't know. Sheena and Zelos got a call from Altamira and are going to check it out, but that's all we've got in leads right now."

"Oh...okay." Genis' shoulders drooped and he poked at a wrinkle in the sheets. "I hope Presea's okay."

"Hey. New kid."

Lloyd glanced up from where he had been watching Genis to see a stick of a boy, with long gangly arms and legs, a thin torso, a mop of orange hair that was stuck under a newsboy cap and a set of pointed ears, staring back at him from the end of the bed.

"Huh? Me?" Lloyd blinked, pointing to himself to make sure the boy was talking to him.

"Yeah you, the spiky haired kid. You gotta name?" He asked roughly, obviously having never bothered to learn to speak with proper diction. The Professor's blatant cringing whenever he spoke said that much.

"Lloyd."

"What's your story?"

Though, there wasn't any point on lying, plus that would have been going against one of the dwarven vows, so Lloyd shrugged and looked back at the urchin.

"Got caught running around without an adult." He answered honestly. It had been the truth, just not the whole truth. There wasn't a need for him to know more.

"Huh. So, what are you? Half elf? Dwarf?" The kid leaned in and narrowed his eyes at Lloyd, his upturned nose wrinkled and suspicious. "Or are you just a weirder freak than us?"

"I.. uh-" Lloyd didn't know how to answer. What exactly was he? The researcher and guard hadn't known, and if they hadn't, how the heck was he supposed to?

"Hey, leave him alone!" Genis piped indignantly, springing to his friend's defense. "He just woke up, so you stop picking on him!"

"Genis, it's okay." Lloyd held up a hand to stop his friend from launching off the bed at the nosy boy and shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know myself anymore. I thought I was a human but.."

"You ain't a human?" the boy with the orange hair laughed, thumbed his nose to the side and nodded to Lloyd with a tip of his patch ridden hat.

"Well, as long as you ain't a human, you'll do fine 'round here." He grinned, flicking up the brim of his hat and hooking a thumb towards the rest of the kids. "Welcome to the Orphanage. Get comfy, 'cause you'll be in here for a real long time. We all are. You'll be in here until you're old and grey... or the Green Lady takes a likin' to you." Laughing hollowly to himself, the half elf boy turned, readjusted his hat and sauntered over to the window, which he then proceeded to spit out of.

Lloyd watched him go, snorted in disapproval and turned back to Genis, who was still sitting next to him on the bed.

"I don't think I like him very much."

"Don't take it personally, Lloyd. From what I've heard from the other kids, he's got a really strong vendetta against humans, just like everyone else in here. Just ignore him."

"Y-yeah." Lloyd nodded. Reaching down from where he sat, the scrawny six year old poked the mattress underneath him and raised an eyebrow.

"So, is this one of your guy's bed that I'm using?"

"No, that one's yours." Genis responded, his glaring gaze fixated on the boy with the hat. "This one is mine and the one across from yours is Sis's."

"... oh. Uh.. alright then." Lloyd looked back at the boy who leaned out the window and sighed tiredly, his mind swimming in Lake Confusion. He must have looked awfully bewildered, because Genis got a horribly concerned look on his face and leaned in, feeling Lloyd's forehead in case of a fever.

"Lloyd? What's wrong?"

"Is it true what he said? That all the kids in here are stuck until they're grey?" Lloyd asked, still eyeing the boy at the sill.

"Kinda. The only way out of here is if an adult gives permission or adopts, which rarely ever happens, especially not for non humans. Otherwise, the magic on the gates won't let anyone who's underage out of here." Genis replied. "Why do you think I didn't squeeze through the bars? I tried it and it didn't work."

".. oh." Lloyd let out a sigh and turned back to his half elf best friend, his eyes tired and worn. "Hey, I'm kinda tired. I'm going to go lay down for a while."

"Alright, but-"

"Genis, let's let him rest for now." Unlike Genis, the Professor had gotten the hint that Lloyd wanted to be left alone to think and steered her brother away towards the other side of the room. Lloyd smiled gratefully at her and flopped onto his stomach. He was truly grateful to have gotten his body's motor skills back and working, but what good was that going to be if he was stuck here until he was the age of the Tower of Salvation?

'I royally screwed everything up.' He murmured, his upper torso propped up by his thin elbows, the bandage from the night before still on his arm. 'Kratos was the only adult that knows I'm in this city and even if he did know where I was, after what I said to him, there's no way he'd come get me now.' Letting his elbows give way, Lloyd buried his face into the flat, yet oddly squishy pillow and groaned.

'I'm such an idiot.'

* * *

'I couldn't find him. All night I searched and yet I found nothing.' Kratos let out a tired sigh as he walked back up the steps of the Royal Research Academy, his hand ever resting on the hilt of his sword. Morning had broken over the city ages ago, but for Kratos, time had no meaning, especially not when all of his mental and physical energy were being dedicated to the matter at hand.

Ever since Lloyd had run out in anger, Kratos had been attempting to search for him and take him back to some place where he could rest. He would need to after he expelled that much mana in such a short period of time, let alone all at once. Kratos wasn't exactly sure why Lloyd had suddenly had the ability to do something of that magnitude without the aid of a secondary device, but that question could wait until after Lloyd was located.

Though, locating him had proved to be much harder done than said. He had searched everywhere he thought Lloyd might have gone, which included the inn in which he had been staying, the sword shop, the item shop, any place that might have had food, and all the streets in between. Still, no one had either seen nor heard of him or anyone who even came close to resembling him. All of his time searching for Lloyd had been fruitless and he didn't even have the slightest of leads on which to cling.

'I felt his mana signature briefly, so I know he is still in the city. However, the strength of his mana signal died out too quickly to be able to track it exactly.' Kratos thought to himself as he grasped the brass handle of the heavy wooden door that led into the Research Academy's main building and tugged it open. Though, why had the signal died out so quickly also plagued his mind. Kratos had never once had a problem tracking where Lloyd was, as his mana signature was unusually high for one so young and he was already attuned to the boy's mana anyway, as they shared many of the same mana traits.

What if.. could something have happened to him and he lost consciousness? Would that have caused something like his mana to fade away so quickly? Perhaps, it was viable that if he had been knocked out, his mana's signal would diminish significantly and factoring in his sudden loss of his total mana, it could stand that he might temporarily slip under the radar for a while. Though, if that was true, then chances stood that something had in fact happened to him. Had someone else perhaps caught wind of his distinctive signature and ambushed him so he never had the chance to defend himself or could it have been something else?

Kratos paused, let out an annoyed breath and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation at letting his own thoughts get the better of him.

'No, I need to think logically.' He mentally berated himself as he passed the gigantic skeleton of a dragon like creature long since dead. 'Lloyd is perfectly able to take down any adversary he would encounter in this city as long as he had his swords. Where could he have disappeared to in such a short amount of time...' Glancing up from where he had been staring at a particular boring square on the blandly patterned tiling, Kratos noticed the assistance desk next to the doors that led into the hallway filled with lab rooms. He honestly hadn't focused on it his first time through, as he was far too preoccupied with the fact he found a machine, albeit a broken one, that would process the adamantite he needed to procure for the sacred ring.

Regardless of his lapse of attention, there was still an information desk of sorts at his disposal and if anyone had the slightest chance of knowing where a young, brash and spiky haired boy would have disappeared to while inside the city, it would probably be the assistant behind the desk.

'I hate to ask for assistance, but right now I have little choice. I do not spend a good portion of my time in Sybak while in Tethe'alla and as such, I no longer know the full layout of this city.' Kratos decided, the voice of his inner monologue stern and rigid. 'My pride will have to step aside for now. Lloyd must come first.' Suppressing his first instinct to walk back out and attempt to find Lloyd on his own again, the ancient swordsman crossed the room and approached the desk.

The women who sat behind the desk looked to be in her early to mid twenties, with a academy uniform, a lab coat and tendrils of blonde hair fanned out of a perky bun. She seemed to be nose deep in what looked like a fashion magazine of some sort, though why anyone would call the outfit on the cover 'fashionable' Kratos did not understand.

"Excuse me." He said seriously to get her attention, his eyes never leaving her face and his hand never leaving the hilt of his sword. The intern, having not noticed him right off the bat, nearly jumped out of her skin and clutched the folds of fabric above where her heart was, trying to slow her pulse.

'Perhaps that was a tad too firm.' Kratos thought sheepishly, though his face was as stoic and unfazed as ever. She obviously didn't seem like the type to have a hardened constitution, but then again, he thought he HAD toned down the usual firmness in his voice.

"H-huh?" The grad student gasped, her hand still over her heart and her glasses askew.

"I apologize for startling you." The angelic swordsman stated sternly, though much softer than before. "However I would like to ask you something, if you don't mind."

"Oh, oh of course." The youthful secretary behind the desk put down her magazine and straightened up in her chair. "What is it you wish to ask?"

"Is there anywhere that a child could go if they perchance lost their way?"

"Hm.." The intern thought for a few moments, part of her unruly blonde hair bounding up and down on its own in curls as she thought. "I don't know of any place in particular where they would go on their own, but if they were picked up by one of the town watchmen, they would be taken straight to the Genetic Testing Center."

"Genetic Testing Center." Kratos repeated, his voice becoming suddenly sterner and darker by the moment, the notion of suppressing it thrown out the window. "I see. Exactly where is that?"

"That ...would be on the far side of town, near the courthouse." The meek intern swallowed in anxiety and pointed to the map next to her. Kratos glanced down at the piece of paper briefly, scanned it the exact route from the research building to the Testing Center and nodded to the intern, who really looked like she wanted to melt into the wall and disappear.

"I see. Thank you for your time." Without another word, the angelic swordsman turned and strode back out the door into the now blaring sunlight, a new objective riveted in his mind with the weight of an anchor in a bay. The hot sun poured down beams of blinding sunlight on his pale skin as Kratos swiftly traveled in the direction of the testing center, but he didn't care. He had a lead to pursue, and that had been more than he had a few minutes prior.

While he didn't wish Lloyd to be there, as that would have meant he had undergone testing that would have caused him additional stress, or to find out about his parentage that way if there had been genealogical test results, it was at least a place to look he had not searched the night before. So, there was only one phrase that he kept playing over and over in his mind as he crossed the streets of Sybak, dead set on the Genetic Testing Center.

'Lloyd... please be there.'

* * *

"So this is the famed Altamira theme park." Sheena whistled as both she and Zelos stepped off the water trolley and stared up at the main gates of the park. "It's pretty fancy for a place that kids go."

"Yeah, it's state of the art. I heard that the president himself loved the thrill of the roller coasters that decided to make his own park in order to satisfy his love of the rides." Zelos replied with an 'all knowing' tone as he too glanced over the main gates at the brightly colored and well polished structures that made up the amusement park. "He originally made it for himself, but had to open it to the public for revenue and upkeep."

"Huh.. I never really thought about it, but in some odd way, it kinda fits that Regal is a bit of an adrenaline junkie."

"I know, right?" Zelos nodded wryly, his finger outstretched and a grin plastered on his face. "Anyway, let's go get tickets."

"Alright." Sheena agreed briskly, reached into the side of her gi, and pulled out her red and white money pouch that she had purchased when they revisited Luin during its reconstruction. The red cord that held it closed was tied in an intricate knot that Zelos had done out of boredom before he'd given in it back to her while they were on the trolley, which only made her annoyed when she couldn't undo it the first five times she tried.

"Zelos, why'd you have to go and put this stupidly complicated knot in my moneybag pouch's cord?" She demanded exasperatedly as she fidgeted with the strings. " Now it's gonna take me forever to just try and straighten out the cords from it and... uh oh."

"'Uh oh'?" The shrimpy chosen asked, his scarlet eyebrows furrowed just above his blue eyes. "What's 'uh oh'?"

"I don't think we have enough money to get inside." the small scale summoner grimaced as she turned her money pouch upside down and shook it so as to show him exactly how little money she had. In fact, she only had one 100 gald coin and that wasn't even enough to get half of one of them into the park, let alone both of them in full pieces.

"You serious?" Zelos groaned, sounded like he was worn ragged, or just trying to act like he was. The boyish acolyte then sighed, brought up a hand, running it through his thick red hair.

"Well, I wasn't planning on breaking out my skills right now, but I suppose I can if it's that serious." He shrugged and flicked some of his hair over his shoulder.

"What do you mean, 'skills'?" Sheena asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You'll see. Now watch and be amazed." Zelos grinned at her slyly, readjusted the shoulders of his pink trench coat and, turning on his heel, sauntered over to the counter where the women who sold the tickets sat. As he went, Sheena watched him go, her eyes narrowed, and her slim raven eyebrow arched in suspicion.

Zelos had that air again, one that she hadn't seen in at least a few days. He seemed more confident, suave, like he owned the whole world, and he only got that way when he was about to...

"He can't be serious." Sheena stared incredulously at his retreating back. Once he had reached the counter, Zelos leaned nonchalantly over the edge of counter, or what he could reach of it, and began to flirt with the cashier for all he was worth. Groaning, Sheena sat down on the curb next to some flowers and planted her palm in the middle of her forehead.

"Unbelievable, he is."

She stayed like that for a minute or two until she looked up again to see the debaucherous excuse for a chosen strolling towards her, his hand clutching some small, rectangular sheets of paper.

"So, how'd it go?" She asked curiously, glancing at his hand to see if perhaps he'd been given some gald or maybe some tickets along with the lurid pieces of paper he clutched in his fist.

"Not too good. She wouldn't give me the tickets for the park for free." Zelos sighed in defeat, now fanning himself with the pieces of paper. "But on the plus side, I got coupons for free ice cream."

"Great, just great." Sheena snorted, her puff frilling out in the increasingly humid afternoon air. "The one time we need you to be a man flooze and all you get is some stupid ice cream coupons."

"Hey, hey. Don't mock the coupons..." The childish chosen shot back, but trailed off when his eyes drifted from the red faced summoner in front of him to something else behind her.

Something that made him grin like a maniac.

"... heh heh, hello." He cooed, his eyes sparked with a tinge of mischief. Sheena's eyes narrowed on him. From her experience in being around him, whenever he got that look in his eyes, it spelled trouble for everyone else involved. And, since she was the only one involved, it didn't bode well.

"What?" She asked suspiciously, eying him up and down with a scrutinizing stare.

"I've got another idea." Zelos replied slyly and hooked his head sharply towards the far corner of the wall that looped around the bend. He then took off, running around the bend of the large theme park gate, shifted his head from side to side, and gestured for Sheena to follow. Against her first reaction to ignore him and her better judgment, the petite ninja followed anyway around the bend and, once she got there, folded her arms against her chest.

"Alright, I'm here. What do you want?"

"Give me a boost." Zelos stretched out an arm and pointed towards the top of the brick wall that cut them off from the inside of the park. "We're gonna climb over the fence."

"Why on hell do you think that's a good idea?" Sheena demanded tersely, the expression on her face making it very clear she thought he was crazy.

"The amusement park the closest way I can figure we can get to the Lezareno Company's main offices." Zelos explained simply as he rolled up the sleeves of his flamingo pink trench coat and tied off the belt behind his back again. " All we have to do is sneak through the park, get into the security system and figure out using their map system how to get to the Lezareno company from there. Piece of cake. But we need to break into the park first, so boost me up already."

Sheena sighed and pinched the bridge of her slender nose. The petite summoner didn't really care for the idea of stealthing into an amusement park with ZELOS now less, but then again, at least he'd come up with an idea, which was more that she had managed to do. From what she could tell, the pair of them didn't exactly have any other way into the Lezareno company and it was true they were at least closer to the building than they had been before, though she didn't want to admit Zelos had been right. In the end, she came to the conclusion that as they didn't have any other options, she'd have to go along with his plot, no matter how shady and sly the expression was.

"Fine, but if we get caught, I blame you." She told him flatly, a scowl on her face backing her up. Then, without waiting for a comeback, she crouched down and let him climb onto her shoulders. Zelos quickly stepped on the area between her back and shoulders and tapped her in the head once so as to let her know he was ready to elevate. Nodding, she took her time, but Sheena managed to balance both herself and Zelos as she stood up like a slow elevator in a hotel and stood as still as she could against the wall.

It took him a few tries, but eventually the pewit casanova got a firm hold on the side of the wall and attempted to stand up so he could reach another piece of piping lodged in the wall. However, he hadn't alerted Sheena of his sudden movement, which sent her backwards because she hadn't countered his weight along with her own.

"Wah! Be careful down there!" Zelos gasped as he clung to the side of the wall with all he could muster to avoid falling. "You drop me and hunnies everywhere will be in tears over my loss to the world."

"Shut up and climb before I dump you in the ocean!" Sheena squalled, trying to regain her footing on the flat concrete below.

"Alright, alright. Yeesh, crazy banshee.." Zelos muttered as he tightened his grasp and began to scale the wall, his white shoes digging into the niches between the bricks. Once he reached the top, the scrawny chosen swung one leg over the top of the wall, then the other and slid out of sight onto the other side.

"Hey, Zelos, how am I gonna get over there?" Sheena called through the wall to her redheaded compatriot. Instead of a snarky response in the style of 'Find a way yourself', a coil of rope sailed overtop the wall and hung down in front of her face like a limp snake.

"A rope?"

"Tie it around your middle and I'll pull you in." Zelos' voice called from the other side. Sheena grimaced at the thought of being pulled in like a fish, but, with a special knot she'd learned while in ninja training for securing traps, she tied the rope around her middle anyway.

"I don't like this, but we don't exactly have any better ideas." The pint sized guardian user sighed in a relenting fashion, but tugged on the rope to make sure it was taut. "But this had better get us there or you won't live to see puberty."

"Alright, alright, enough with the threats of maiming me." Zelos shot back smoothly and began to pull. With a tug, the rope around Sheena's torso also began to float and slowly but surely, started it's ascent, taking Sheena and her middle with it. Higher and higher the lilliputian summoner rose into the air, until she had the appearance of a ninja themed pinata.

'This.. is just embarrassing.' Sheena sighed forlornly as she began to rotate slowly in midair.

After some serious power pulling, courtesy of Zelos, Sheena finally made it to the top of the wall and crossed over. However, as she had been obscured by the wall in front of him, Zelos hadn't seen when Sheena breached the wall until he had tugged one time too many.

"Not the face!" Zelos squawked in panic, but it was too late. Sheena sailed down through the air and collided with the seven year old swordsman, knocking him flat on his face onto the stone and cement floor of the park.

Once the dust cleared, the red clad ninja stood up, stretched and rubbed the small of her back, wincing when she touched the tender part that had landed on the cement.

"Ow, I can't believe that worked." Sheena breathed in disbelief as she got up, dusted herself off and ruffled out the under part of her gi.

"Of course it worked." Zelos replied muffled as he was face first in the ground, his hair all over the place so he looked like a red colored sea anemone. Glancing down at the now flattened Zelos, Sheena shook her head in a mixture of pity and exasperation and hooked her thumb at the park.

"Well, since that's one obstacle down, let's go find us a President!" She announced, pointing one finger towards the other side of the park, her body in a 'we can do it' stance.

"Will do." Zelos whimpered. "Once I get the feeling back in my legs."

* * *

"Are you content now?" Yuan asked tiredly as he pressed some buttons on the combination lock to his office which allowed the dead bolt to disengage.

"Yeah, thanks for showing me around, Yuan!" Colette piped up cheerily, her face pin and joyful. "That was a lot of fun."

'Fun for you maybe.' The Renegade commander snorted in his mind as the door gave way and allowed them access to the interior of his office. 'You ate, took a bath, beat me at cards AGAIN, received a tour of the base, made friends with everyone in the engineering department and were given a plush puppy by the seamstress. I, on the other hand, am tired, irritable and have yet another splitting headache from weather changes. Will you just tell me what I want to know about Lloyd or do I have to set up a trapeze swing hanging from my office ceiling for your amusement too?'

"So, you said you had some stuff you wanted to ask me?" The tiny cherubim piped as she bounded into his office, her miniature boots barely leaving an impression on his thick and ornate rug. The cerulean ponytailed angel paused, glanced at the five year old in front of him and raised an eyebrow at her suspiciously.

'Hm.. that was rather fortuitous.' Yuan mused offhandedly, his focus still on Colette, who was swaying from side to side at that point while she cuddled her new stuffed puppy plush. However, he was not going to look a gift arshis in the mouth, so instead of questioning her impeccable timing, he crossed the room, pulled out his primed desk chair and settled into the plush seat, ecstatic to be sitting in it once again.

"I would like to ask you about your friend Lloyd."

"Oh.. uh, okay." Colette replied as she absently fiddled with the plush's floppy ear. "What about Lloyd?"

Yuan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. While he knew he was fairly sneaky and underhanded when the need called for such actions, he knew when it came to Lloyd, he was fairly straightforward about what he wanted exactly.

Lloyd, in his custody, preferably in one piece.

What about indeed... she really couldn't be that asinine, could she?

"He's very... interesting and I wish to know all I can about him." Yuan replied cryptically out of habit, his emerald eyes watching the miniscule kindergardener sway back and forth, the stuffed dog still latched in her arms.

"So just random things about him?"

She could.

"Well, uh..." Colette's thin blonde eyebrows creased in a thinking frown that looked more like a halfhearted pout than a pensive gaze, "He's seventeen, he likes anything with meat in it, but his favorite food is curry. He'll eat that by the pot full. Also, he hates tomatoes, though I don't know why."

'I believe I do.' Yuan thought wryly, his mind trailing down memory lane to when another certain swordsman had refused to eat tomatoes to the point of declaring them to be a 'menace to society' and turning his sword on it, which then resulted in tomato everywhere.

While it had been amusing to remember such an incriminating anecdote at Kratos' expense, that wouldn't be very helpful in procuring Lloyd so he could us him as leverage. All that had done was tell him exactly what main ingredient he should use if he wanted to make 'Lloyd repellant'.

"Not that his food tastes are not interesting, but I was hoping you could tell me exactly what his tendencies are." Yuan explained exasperatedly, his cheek resting on the palm of his gloved right hand. "How he reacts to situations, his basic demeanor and such."

"Oh." Colette blinked in bewilderment, the plush puppy's ear still between her thumb and forefinger. "You mean like on the Journey of Regeneration?"

Yuan sighed.

"I suppose you could take references from that."

"Hm..." The chosen-to-be thought long and hard for a good couple minutes, her blond bangs bouncing about her face, while her new toy remained forever locked in her arms. Yuan observed her from behind his desk, intrigued as to what perhaps was coursing through her mind and where she would start her explanation.

"Oh, I know!" The petite cherub suddenly beamed, clapping her hands together and causing Yuan to jump slightly in his seat from her outburst. She then aimed a finger at him pointedly and angled her slim eyebrows at him with a determined glint in her eyes. "Stay right there, Yuan. I'll be right back!"

"Where are you going?" The angelic commander inquired, though part of him wasn't sure he honestly wanted to know.

"I'm going to tell you what happened on the Journey of Regeneration! But I need to go get ready, so until then, please stay there."

".. 'ready'?"

"Yeah, and it has to be perfect, so just stay there until I get back, okay?" The teeny acolyte chirped and bounded over to the sliding door of his office.

".. alright. As long as you tell me, I don't suppose I mind." He relented tiredly. He was over four thousand years old, waiting a few more hours probably wouldn't feel like much in the grand scheme of things, plus it would give him some alone time.

"Okay! See you in a bit!" Colette waved at the ancient angelic lord, and bounced out of the room, her long blonde hair trailing behind her in a sea of yellow and gold highlights. Once she had left, the door slammed shut again, and the angelic Renegade was once again alone in his office.

Yuan watched the door for a few moments, not entirely convinced she wouldn't spring back into the room the second his attention was elsewhere and startle him, which would be fantastic for neither his pride, nor his pulse. Letting out a deep breath, Yuan leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, something he had found he did a lot of during his spare time.

".. if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was trying to stall me for time so I didn't get anywhere with finding Lloyd..." He mused as he brought up his right hand and flicked the bangs from his face.

".. must be my imagination. She's not that clever."

"... Is she?"

* * *

'Ugh, so hot.. I can't move.' Lloyd groaned to himself, leaning back against the rough bark of one of sparing decrepit trees, fanning himself with his petite hand. The sun from above shone blindingly across the sky and huge beams of light cascaded down onto the almost barren courtyard. As his pale pink skin would have been burned to a crisp otherwise, Lloyd had taken refuge underneath the large lone tree, and due to the heat, had taken of his red outer shirt, exposing the black sleeveless shirt he'd found inside his pack.

He was no longer wearing his thick white scarf since, since just before he had left the main sleeping area for the outside with the rest of the other children, Lloyd had stashed it in his backpack and then the backpack under his new bed so no one would see his things. And, because he had taken the liberty of hiding his swords in his pack while he had been climbing over the side of the fence the night prior, he was unarmed and now trying to come up with a method of breaking out of his newfound orphanage prison, baking under the sun in the process.

So far, he had zip squat.

He had no weapons, he was dying of the heat and there was no one he could contact for help. Not exactly a fantastic scenario for a daring escape.

'There has to be something I can do.. think, Lloyd, think.' He murmured in his head while thoughts swam around in his mind. He couldn't climb out through the bars in the wrought iron fence, as he was too big to do that and even if he had been small enough, the bars had been enchanted with barrier magic that not even the Professor or Genis could break. Climbing out at night flickered as an idea, but the memory of the guard snuffed out that plan before it even had the chance of fruition.

Each idea that ran into Lloyd's head quickly dashed off again, leaving him with nothing except a hole in the pit of his stomach and a bit of a heat induced headache. No matter where he turned, the situation didn't look good. In fact, it looked pretty much hopeless.

Still, Lloyd wasn't going to give up. Not yet. So there he sat, crosslegged with his chin postured on his fist, fanning his left hand back and forth across his face, deep in jailbreak thoughts.

Happy to see his old friend and relieved to see that Lloyd was now completely alright, Genis had joined him under the tree, Lloyd's red shirt draped over his head in an effort to stave off the heat and sunlight. The Professor hadn't joined them, as she was fixated on examining a particular chunk of molding on the wrought iron fence, as she deemed it to be 'fascinating'. Lloyd hadn't seen what was so interesting about a fence, an opinion that he had voiced and consequently been smacked for, he opted to stay under the tree and well out of her way as a good backup reason for occupying the dead brown grass in the shade.

"Why did they send us out here when its burning like the deserts of Triet?" The six year old swordsman groaned suddenly, wiping some sweat off his forehead. Were the caretakers trying to give them all heatstroke or was it because they simply were sadists?

"They want to clean and they get really mad if you get in their way." Genis replied from underneath his makeshift shade of Lloyd's thick cotton shirt, his face hidden from view. "So, we all got sent outside."

"You mean like yesterday when I saw you outside?" Lloyd asked slothfully, his shoulders slumping down limply as he was too overheated to keep them upright. It seemed weird that something fairly simple like heat was getting to him so quickly, but as he was a miniature version of his old self, perhaps his quickset fatigue made sense after all.

"Yeah, just like that. I wish we didn't have to bake in the heat, though." The tiny half elf agreed, his voice muffled by the gigantic shirt over his head. The shirt itself wasn't actually all that humongous, given that Lloyd was a fairly skinny six year old, but compared to the pixie of a preschooler that was using it, it could have been easily mistaken for a tent.

"No kidding. This is really bad. And it's humid too." Glancing up from where he had been watching some of the brown, crinkly grass sway side to side, Lloyd ran a hand through his rebellious hair, which was wet from all of the saturation humidity in the air and sighed.

"All the water in the air, it feels like I'm steaming in my skin."

Lifting up part of the shirt that covered his head, shoulders and most of his torso, Genis peeked out from under it and snorted, his face in a wry smile.

"Yeah, you'd be 'Lloyd Lobster'. We could serve you with butter." Genis grinned, his porcelain skin unnaturally rosy because of his intolerance of the heat. Laughing, Lloyd pulled the shirt off his friend's head, tousled Genis' hair and draped the shirt back over his head like a blanket.

"Enough with the food jokes." The small scale swordsman jokingly shot back, his tone airy and light and his face brightened with a large grin. However, while the actual jokes hadn't really bothered him, the thought of food reminded the army in his stomach that they had not been fed in quite some while and decided collectively it was time to stage a coup de grace.

All of a sudden, a chorus of growls that would rival a thunderstorm erupted from Lloyd's stomach and echoed into the air, piercing the wet air with its starving induced fury. Lloyd groaned in pain, his eyes dilating sharply, and doubled over, clutching his angry abdomen and cringing in pain as a set of hunger spasms unleashed themselves all over his stomach.

"Ugh, my stomach hurts from not eating." the six year old grunted, his arms still wrapped around his torso. "When's lunch?"

Having just pulled the shirt out of his eyes, Genis looked over at Lloyd and shook his head exasperatedly.

"An hour ago. You slept right through it." He replied flatly. "You'll have to wait for snack, which is at four."

"What time is it now?" Lloyd asked, not missing a beat.

"Judging from the angle and width of our shadows and the side that is located, I would say it is about..." Genis scrunched up his nose and narrowed his eyes at the shadows.

"Two o'clock."

Lloyd groaned and sank his forehead into his palm. Two whole hours until he would be allowed to eat something. There was no possible chance he'd be able to wait that long. Another shrewd growl sounded from his stomach, voicing it's agreement towards him not being able to wait, and panged the side of his lower torso again to get the message completely across.

'Man, this is just not my day.' He sighed, bringing the back of his head up so it rested against the scratchy bark of the old oak tree and closing his eyes. No ideas on how to escape, no food for a solid two hours while he sat there starving, things weren't looking wonderful.

'How am I gonna get myself out of this one?' He asked himself, blowing the rogue strand of hair that loved to tickle his nose out of his face. 'And not just me. I have to get the Professor and Genis out of here too at the same time, hopefully with no one noticing. How the hell am I supposed to pull this off-'

"Lloyd, are you okay?"

Lloyd's eyes shot open from their resting position when Genis' high, yet concerned tones broke him out of his thinking stupor and he looked down at his younger companion. Genis, who had scooted himself right next to Lloyd, peered into Lloyd's deep redwood eyes with his own baby blue set and waved a hand in front of the older boy's nose.

"You alive in there?" The precocious preschooler asked, snapping his fingers inches from Lloyd's nose.

"Huh?" The brown haired boy asked, his eyes bewildered for a quick moment while his brain kick started itself back into a conversational setting. Letting out a shallow sigh, Lloyd rested his head back against the bark of the tree and readjusted himself on the dehydrated grass underneath him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Genis. Just a little hungry." He replied, his hand in his hair again. It was true, he was very hungry and all in all, with the exception of his arm hurting from where he had been given the vampire treatment the day before, he felt alright. Yet Genis was staring at Lloyd like he was a complex math problem, and it was unsettling.

"You sure that's all?" Genis replied, his slender silver eyebrow raised in a slant. "You have that look in your eyes just like the time when Colette lost her soul and we didn't know how to get it back."

Lloyd blinked.

"I do?"

"Yeah." the half pint half elf nodded. "What's up?"

The boy to the right of his friend exhaled tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose. When Genis got to prying out of concern, there was no way to stop him, so he didn't even bother trying to distract him. He was too smart to fall for any of Lloyd's diversion tactics, so denying him would just waste the first grader's already waning supply of energy. So, instead of trying to distract him, Lloyd merely rested his head against the bark of the tree and smiled tiredly as he flicked some of his hair out of his face with his hands.

"I'm just trying to think of how to get out of here." The petite boy replied after a minute after he finished rubbing the dark circles lining the undersides of his eyes with his fingers.

"Oh, I see." Genis murmured gently, his hands clapped on the skin of the inside of his shins. "Any plans so far?"

"Not so far." Lloyd responded dully, his cheek propped up by his fist. "Sheena and Zelos are all the way in Altamira, and they couldn't help even if they came here, Colette's with the Renegades, we don't even know where Regal and Presea are and my only other way of escape probably wouldn't come get me, even if he did know where I was."

"You mean Kratos?"

"Yeah." The scrawny swordsman nodded, the glint in his eyes heavy and conflicted. "I... I said some really terrible things to him right before I left to go try and rescue you guys. He was being so stubborn and stuffy, I lost my temper and I said a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have."

"Oh." Genis asked, eyeing Lloyd with a great amount of scrutiny, taking in all of what his best friend had said. Though he was being examined with a fine toothed comb by the four year old next to him, he didn't seem to notice. His mind was elsewhere.

"I was really angry at him, but I shouldn't have yelled at him like that. He just made me so angry, I just..." Lloyd's hand curled into a fist and he punched a patch of dirt next to his seat, sending a dust cloud into the air. "I just snapped and lost control of myself. I don't know what he did that really got me going, but there was something that really made me lose it. Something about him that just made my blood boil."

"Maybe it was the fact that you're still really upset over what happened at the Tower of Salvation." The silver haired half elf suggested offhandedly, his attention focused on a wilting flower that was making one last bid at life. "Though you won't admit it, of course."

Lloyd went silent.

"How do you figure that?" He asked suddenly while he stared at Genis incredulously, his tapered chestnut eyebrow arched. Snorting, the half pint half elf glanced at Lloyd, sighed exasperatedly and shook his head, his flyaway hair rustling from side to side.

"Lloyd, you haven't said anything about it, but we can all tell how much that betrayal really got to you." Genis explained as he brushed his hair out of his childish face.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of them, but I could tell." Once he finally rid his face of the unruly pieces of hair that had attempted to blind him with their curtain impression, Genis patted Lloyd's pale pink shoulder and smiled warmly.

"You really idolized him." He added softly, his young voice cushioned with understanding and concern. His voice had been so quiet, that most people would have had a difficult time deciphering what he had said, but Lloyd got it crystal clear. The expression that donned on his face said that much. 'Idolized'? That was a bit strong to say that exactly, but.. had he looked up to Kratos? As he thought on, it seemed more and more likely that Genis had hit the nail right on the head, even though he didn't like admitting it to himself, let alone anyone else.

"Well, yeah, I guess." Lloyd finally relented with a deep and thick exhale as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his shorts, his back still pressed against the tree. "He was hard to get to know at first, since he's about as talkative as a wall, but he turned out to know a lot about swordplay and taught me the proper way to fight and knew a lot of things about the world."

"He was the first human man I met who I could ask about all kinds of things and just talk to. He always had a good piece of advice on what to do next or how to look at situations, no matter what they were." Lloyd added as he removed his hands from his cotton lined pockets and folded his arms against his chest. "I'll admit they'd usually be about as tactful as a brick pitched at my head, but at least I'd get an answer. Most of the men in Iselia just ignored me because I was the 'weird outsider kid'. Y'know, 'out of sight and out of mind'."

"Though," Lloyd rested his chin in the palm of his hand and stared off into the dimming sky of the coming afternoon. "It turned out he was an angel in disguise and not a human at all." Genis watched Lloyd lay limply against the trunk of the tree behind him and, reaching out one of his miniature hands, patted Lloyd's shoulder, or the part of his shoulder that he could reach.

"That doesn't make it any less painful, does it?"

Lloyd looked over at Genis, felt his shoulders droop, and sagged further against the tree like he was trying to melt into it with the power of his weight alone.

".. no." The diminished swordsman relented grudgingly, the rogue strand of hair flittering into his eyes. A combination of silence and awkwardness quickly fell between the pair of boys, one who was still deep in thought and the other who wasn't sure what to say that would help his friend feel better. A wave of stillness then followed said pregnant silence and neither moved a muscle, with the exception of the shallow rise and fall of their breathing chests.

Lloyd, the first to break the oath of statuary aptitude, stretched out his arms like he was trying to take off into the air and massaged the bridge of his nose, taming a roaring itch that had rebelled against his six year old self. Right then, the half elf preschooler next to him suddenly stood up straight, which jolted Lloyd practically into the air and sent his heart rate flying off into the blue, now grey, yonder.

"Wh-what?" Lloyd asked raggedly, his hand clutching the folds of his shirt over his heart. "Don't-don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry Lloyd. It's this body. I can't sit still for very long without wanting to run around like a maniac on sugar pills." Genis quickly spouted, having almost burst from the pressure of being that quiet that long.

"Back to the topic of Kratos, I can see why you'd take to him so fast, Lloyd." The half elf half pint added as he managed to get a grip on himself. "He was an older human male, one of the first that you ever came close to, so there's no wonder why you chose him as your role model."

"Role model?" Lloyd asked inquisitively, raising his eyebrow and tilting his head to the side to show he was curious. Laughing a little, his half elf friend nodded cheerily and tenderly rubbed the side of his scrawny arm where hints of a sunburn were coming into view.

"Yeah, he was everything you wanted to be. I saw it in your eyes the first time we met him at the Martel Temple." The four year old wizard replied knowledgeably as he pressed his arms into his chest like he was trying to form a pretzel with them. "You had a spark of awe that was mixed with a whole lot of jealousy. You've never had that with anyone else."

"But in the end, when he revealed who he actually was to us at the Tower of Salvation, you felt horribly betrayed and hurt. That betrayal and torn feelings you had then made you feel disgusted at yourself for ever wanting to be like him. That's why you decided to bottle it all up, put up a front and tell no one what was really going through your mind."

"It would also explain why whenever we'd run into him when we were still normal.. er... size wise anyway, you'd pull out your swords and try to fight him right there. You weren't just protecting Colette and everyone, though at the time, that's probably what you were thinking about. I think subconsciously, you were trying to reclaim yourself and deal with your betrayed heart, which you thought could only be healed if you defeated him. If you defeated Kratos in combat, you would be able think of yourself as the better man and therefore would no longer feel guilt for wishing to emulate him."

"But every single time you tried, Kratos would send you flying, and, no offense, but it was pretty obvious via a third party that he wasn't trying at all."

"Hey!" Lloyd interjected indignantly, his hair bristling. It hadn't been that bad, really it hadn't. And besides, just because he really.. hadn't stood a chance and stuff didn't mean he needed to be reminded of it by a certain spell casting commentator.

"Sorry, Lloyd, but it's true." Genis countered, his eyes narrowed at his six year old senior in front of him for interrupting, "And you know what? I think you know that too. That's why you would always get that stubborn look in your eye right after we'd run into him. That look that said 'I'm Lloyd, don't mess with me, and I'm not gonna lose to you.'" Genis puffed out his chest and pumped his fist in front of his face in a dead on impersonation of Lloyd, complete with the stubborn glint in his eyes that Lloyd always sported when he decided to do something.

"But, you didn't want anyone to catch onto what actually was going on, and so that's why you bottled it up until you burst." He then added, having dropped the act and instead grinned at Lloyd toothily, pleased with himself for his smooth deductions.

Lloyd stared at Genis.

"Genis."

"Yeah?"

"You're scary smart sometimes, you know that?"

"Eheheheh." The halfling four year old laughed smugly, rubbing the underside of his nose with his finger as he did. "Just tell me I'm wrong."

"No, you're right." Lloyd replied as he reached out a hand and ruffled Genis' silver nest of hair. "I was so upset when he betrayed us and tried to take Colette away, I couldn't hardly see straight. I just got so angry with myself that he.. he tricked me, that I couldn't stand it. I know I'm not the wisest guy around, but I thought I knew what was going on, what was right and what was wrong, who was good and who was evil. But then at the Tower of Salvation, that all got ripped apart and everything was flipped upside down."

"The Desians who attacked Colette weren't Desians, but Renegades, Cruxis was the one in charge of the Desians along with being the lords of the world, Colette having to die and.." Lloyd rested his chin in his hand and heaved a sigh, his eyes drifting out into the play area and into the now grey and cloudy sky.

"I thought he was my friend."

"Are you worried he hates you?"

Lloyd blinked suddenly, his mind completely frozen, and shifted his gaze back to Genis, staring at him as if the four year old mage beside him had sprouted another head.

"Wha... what?" The shrunken swordsman gaped like a beached flounder, not sure if he had heard him right.

"Are you worried he hates you?" Genis repeated slowly, pronouncing each word clearly so it would register in his friend's ears. "I remember that just before we got turned into pewits, you were really deep in thought right after Sheena said that two sneezes meant someone was talking about you, but it was in a hateful way. You're afraid that it was Kratos, aren't you?"

Lloyd went silent and shut his agape mouth. While he didn't really want to talk about it, let alone admit something like that, he couldn't lie and say that hadn't crossed his mind a few times. Kratos hadn't said anything about disliking him, but then again, Kratos didn't say much of anything. He always seemed so cross whenever he was around the boy, Lloyd couldn't really figure if it had been or not. However, the lingering possibility it had been him ate at his insides and curdled the contents of his stomach.

Raising a slender eyebrow at his sudden silence, Genis exhaled exasperatedly at Lloyd and patted his shoulder again in an effort to console his spiky haired companion.

"Want my opinion?" The tiny shrimp asked, though Lloyd could tell from the glint in his eyes Genis was going to tell him whether or not his opinion was wanted.

"I don't think he hates you. If he did, why would he have spared you in the Tower of Salvation, or let you live after all those times when you would draw your swords at him and charge like a madman? Even now, he saved your rear from dying and helped you out this far. And why would he do that?"

Lloyd thought for a minute and then recalled the conversation between himself and Kratos on the bridge about the very same subject. Kratos had said something about following a code of conduct, a series of instructions, but the name just then eluded him. It had to do with being honorable and justified and it started with a 'C'...

That's when he remembered.

"Chivalry?" He shrugged offhandedly, still using his hand for a chin rest while watching a stray grey cloud drift by. Groaning to himself, Genis leaned over and sharply poked Lloyd on the tip of the nose.

"Ow!" Lloyd yelped in pain, rubbing his stinging nose with the flat of his palm. "What did you do that for?"

"Wrong. Chivalry doesn't nearly go as far as that. He could have slaughtered you without a moment's notice if he'd wanted and could have still claimed he was being chivalrous by keeping his loyalty to Cruxis and dealing with threats." Genis berated Lloyd, waving his hand up and down with one finger extended in the 'shame on you' stance Raine had perfected over many a year.

"He may use it as an excuse or a reason, but deep down, I don't think he hates you. He's just using chivalry and stoicism as a barrier to protect himself. Kinda like how you did with how you felt about being betrayed." Genis folded his arms and sat up straight, his mop of silver hair frilling out in the cooling air.

"You think?" Lloyd asked as he tilted his head to the side and ran a hand through his gravity defying hair. He couldn't really grasp the concept of Kratos and he acting alike in that type of situation, since Kratos and he acting the same in any situation sounded just weird, but Genis had always been the smarter one, so maybe he'd just missed it.

"No thinking about it." The small sized sorcerer nodded sagely, "I don't think he hates you at all. To be honest, I'd say he's rather fond of you."

Lloyd blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh.. well, er.. how do I explain it..." Genis frowned, the cogs turning in his tiny head, and propped his chin onto his miniature fist. Lloyd watched him think and wondered if the crouched pose that his friend had entered into helped his speed of thinking in some way, that or perhaps he just was feeling pensive. After a good few minutes of deep thinking, Genis clapped his hands together and then pressed them into his ankles, staring at Lloyd seriously.

"Look, when we were traveling around releasing the seals, I noticed that when Remiel was looking at Colette, there wasn't a touch of warmth in his eyes the whole time, though he was smiling like there was no tomorrow." The lilliputian half elf explained, "That's why I was really starting to get irritated with him every time I saw him."

"... none at all?" Lloyd asked darkly as he turned to his compatriot, a fierce glare adorning his boyish features. Every single time he thought of that slimy bastard and what he did to Colette, the blood in his veins boiled, pure, unadulterated fury coursing through his body. That horrible smarmy excuse for an angel led poor Colette towards her ultimate demise, not caring in the least for what would happen to her. All he wanted was the vessel for Martel so he could get promoted or something, Lloyd didn't really understand the structure of angels in Cruxis, nor did he really care. However, what he did care about was the well being of his friends and if Remiel had done something else that he had missed that Genis had caught, he'd find a way to resurrect him so he could kill him again, maybe two, three times.

At least.

"None. Not a thing. It was like his eyes were made of icy sharp daggers." Genis nodded, matching Lloyd's scowl. "But whenever Kratos would berate you for not fighting right, or telling you to do something, or even just watching you, there were hints of warmth in the corner of his eyes, and I'm not saying that because he's got redwood colored eyes. It looked kinda like he was paying close to what you were doing, making sure you were doing everything properly, but in a 'mentory' kind of way, for lack of a better word." Stretching, Genis flopped back against the tree next to Lloyd, glanced up at his hair and blew a stray strand from where it had decided to tickle his nose.

"He might be a stuffy, cranky old curmudgeon who's working for a guy who looks like the spandex king, but deep down, I think he does like you. His eyes said that much." The half elf added, brushing the strand from his face as trying to move it via his breath hadn't worked. "He's just really bad at showing it and, since he's on the opposite side and such, he probably feels that his fondness of you wouldn't be appropriate for someone in Cruxis, let alone a high ranking angel. So, I wouldn't worry if I were you."

Lloyd sighed. While Genis' words of comfort and reassurance had made him feel a little better, there was still a nagging feeling in the bottom of his stomach, much like the one he got whenever he didn't turn in his homework and the Professor had found out. Genis' explanation and interpretation of his plight made sense, there was no denying that, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this than just that.

"Even if he didn't, and this is on the off chance that he didn't dislike me, I bet he's pretty close to hating me now after what I said to him." Lloyd pointed out tiredly, sighing as he watched another, this time much bigger and grayer, cloud roll on by. "I want to apologize and take it back, but I don't really know how I'll be able to if I can't get out of this place and find him again."

"And even if I did, would he accept my apology?" The tiny boy groaned and covered his eyes in his palms, the intensity of his power thinking having worn him out. "If someone said that to me, I don't think I would be able to right away."

Sighing, Genis rolled his eyes at his mentally exhausted friend, balled up his fist, leaned over and punched him in the side of the arm.

"Kratos doesn't seem like the type to let much get to him, much less a bunch of words spoken in anger by a little kid. I know you're not one really, but body wise, you are." The half elf mage replied coolly, as Lloyd muttered a few choice words under his breath while he rubbed his punched arm. "Whatever you said, I don't think he hates you for it. He's just probably annoyed like he always is with everything else."

Lloyd stayed silent, but turned to Genis, grinned warmly and ruffled his boyish dandelion of silver hair. Though he hadn't said anything in particular, it was understood between both boys exactly what he had meant with the ruffle.

'Thank you.'

Genis laughed, brushed his hair out of his face and stretched out his arms, trying to hug another cloud that had drifted into the sky. However, as his arms were already diminished in his regular form and even more so now, his attempt fell short. All he managed to reach was just above his head, and that wasn't even enough to snag the lowest branch on the already dying tree they both sat under. Snorting in annoyance that his shortness had been enhanced since his de-aging, Genis flopped back against the tree's trunk next to Lloyd and glanced at his 'formerly known as a human' friend.

"Any time, Lloyd. I'm your friend and that's what friends are for." The half pint of a half elf piped cheerily, pulling Lloyd's shirt over his legs so he sported a new blanket. "You've given me advice all the time. It's my turn to return the favor." Lloyd nodded limply in response as his back sank further into the trunk of the gnarly old tree and folded his arms over and behind his head, which he then used to substitute for a pillow.

"Genis?" The small scale swordsman asked quietly, his eyes back to the growing conglomeration of clouds in the sky above.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell the others about this, especially not Zelos. He'd never let me live it down." Lloyd muttered, turning a shade of deep burgundy and fidgeting with his slender fingers. The thought of Zelos getting his hands on something as potent as Lloyd being worried over whether or not an enemy hated him was far too much to bear. There wasn't a chance in Triet the red headed chosen would miss such a glorious opportunity to tease him about something of that degree. Lloyd figured teasing was Zelos' method of making people feel a little better, but what it usually did was make people either feel worse, or make them angrier with him than they were about the actual thing that was bothering them.

Either way, Lloyd really didn't want him to know.

"I won't tell that moron, don't fret." Genis laughed, bringing his arms over his head and stretching out like a cat. "And you know what else?"

"Hm?" Lloyd glanced over at Genis and raised on of his tapered chestnut eyebrows. "What is it?"

Steeling his gaze, Genis sat straight up, squared out his sloping shoulders and locked eyes with the boy next to him, cherrywood on periwinkle blue.

"I really, really want a cookie."

Lloyd blinked.

"... what?"

However, Lloyd's confusion was blaringly banished from his head when the sound of metal colliding with metal wrought into his ears and made his eyes cross. The shrunken swordsman reeled back against the tree in pain, cringing like he was being shot at each time the screeching squawk echoed into the air.

"Urgh, what's that clanging sound?" He demanded in agony, whilst holding his palms to his ears in an effort to cushion the sharp twangs of the metal. "It's killing my ears!"

"It's the old caretaker lady." Genis replied loudly over the noise, his hands also at his ears. "She's trying to get our attention by hitting a saucepan with a spatula."

"Well, tell her to stop it!" Lloyd moaned in sheer agony over his poor eardrums. "What'd that saucepan ever do to her?"

"Alright, all of you to the front of the compound." The gravelly voice of a woman, who sounded like she'd been smoking for the past 800 years, gruffed through the stale and moist air. "Boys over here, girls over there. Hurry up! We have a special guest for all of you and you'd all better be on your best behavior, or else!"

Like clockwork, all of the children stopped their lounging or playing and wandered over towards the front of the large pewter stained building, girls on the left and boys on the right.

"Huh? What's happening?" Lloyd asked confusedly as he got to his feet and dusted the back of his shorts that were riddled with dry dirt. "Is it snack time now?"

"I don't think so. It's not time yet, but let's check it out anyway." Genis responded, having also gotten to his feet and dusted off his light blue overalls. He patted his back pocket to make sure that his kendama was still very much safely secured inside and pointed over to the group of accumulating boys. Not entirely sure what was going on at this point, Lloyd shrugged and wandered over to the pack of young non human males, Genis right at his heels.

As he was fairly new to the orphanage, Lloyd took a spot inside the large cluster of boys so as to not attract too much attention to himself. Following his example, Genis occupied the place right next to him and tugged on Lloyd's pant leg, holding on for support. Glancing down at him, Lloyd shook his head once, patted Genis' head and then turned his eyes front again. He couldn't exactly blame Genis for being nervous. He didn't know what was going on himself, and if he had been the same size as Genis, it would have been ten times scarier.

Stretching his neck out to the side like a collapsable telescope, Lloyd managed to see a few silver spikes of hair from the edge of the girl's gaggle, so he figured the Professor had gotten into line with the others. However, that was all he could see, as a rather rotund boy, who he suspected was at least part of whatever Vidarr had been, part half elf, part house, stood in front of him and successfully blocked his view from anything else.

He could hear footsteps, at least three, maybe more, coming towards the pile of kids, a good few with heavy, clunking boots and one with spiked stilettos that made a 'clip clop' sound every time they hit the ground. Judging by how they sounded, Lloyd didn't have to see them to guess that they were incredibly uncomfortable, but weren't worn for comfort.

'Who in their right mind would wear shoes that weren't comfortable?' He asked himself incredulously, folding his arms against the sleeveless shirt he wore. 'Are they crazy or something?'

"Here you go, all of 'em ready and waiting. When you've made your pick, let me know." The old orphanage director hacked out before she succumbed to a horribly awful and dry coughing fit. Lloyd winced and clapped his hands over his ears again, just praying that she would stop hopefully before his ears ruptured. Her cough was so dry and hollow, his eyes had begun to water in pain and he was surprised blood from his eardrums hadn't begun seeping out his ears from where they had burst.

"I'll leave you all to it then." She hacked out another forceful cough and sauntered back towards the orphanage main building. Lloyd watched her lurch away, his eyes narrowed on her, and briefly checked the area around her just to check if she had coughed up a lung along the way.

"Hey, it's the Green Lady!" One of the younger boys in the front hissed to the others in the back, which sent out an eruption of hushed tones all throughout the gaggle of boys and girls.

"Yeah, there she is!" Lloyd could hear one of the girls on on the other side squeal in a hushed whisper.

"She's back again?" Another girl murmured curiously.

"Who do you think she's gonna take this time?"

"I hope it's me. I want out of here so bad."

Lloyd couldn't stand it anymore. What the heck was a 'Green Lady' and why were they all so twittery about it? Was it something to eat, or was there literally a lady with green skin? He glanced over at what he could see of the Professor, but judging by the look of horror on her face, it couldn't have been as great as the orphans thought it was. Though, the look on her face didn't stave off his interest, but only enhanced it tenfold. For all of the time he knew the Professor, he'd never seen her have that exact expression on her face, one that mixed with apprehension, concern, anger and a sickly green color all at the same time.

Not able to keep his curiosity at bay any longer, the tiny first grader craned his neck out over the herd of boys and attempted to see what was making all of the other children so excited. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get a decent glimpse of what was causing so much chatter, as there was a large muscular boy blocking his view, one that looked like a cross between a bear and a mountain. No matter which way he tried, the hulking land mass of a boy successfully blocked his gaze.

"What's going on? I can't get a good look." Lloyd muttered under his breath, annoyed at his small stature and the fact he was standing behind the kid who looked like a wall with buzzed haircut. "What's a 'Green Lady'?"

"I dunno. Hold on, I'll get a better look." Genis replied and peeked out his head from the sea of boys in front of him. After a minute, his hand snaked up, snagged Lloyd's black undershirt and pulled down on it hard. Gasping in surprise, Lloyd lurched downwards with the shirt and landed on his knees next to Genis in the dusty earth below him.

"What is it, Genis?" Lloyd asked in a hushed whisper.

"I can't see." Genis whispered back, his hands still clutching Lloyd's black undershirt with one hand and his piled red cotton shirt in the other.

"Then just look through the opening of the boy's torsos."

"Lloyd, I'm too short."

"Then look under their knees."

Genis nodded exasperatedly, rolled his eyes, but crawled through the slender openings between the boys' legs in the front and poked his head out so he could see. However, he pulled it back as fast as he had poked it out and scrambled backwards like a beached crab, his face stark white.

".. oh no... this isn't good..." The half elf preschooler muttered, chills going up and down his spine. Lloyd frowned as even he began to notice goose bumps erupt all over Genis' exposed arms and he was sweating bullets of cold perspiration. Narrowing his eyes, Lloyd raised an eyebrow at him for his sudden voice lapse and tried craning his neck forward through the thicket of boy legs to see whatever had sent Genis into a panic. While there was an increasingly large amount of shade building up from grey clouds above, it was still fairly warm out, so why was Genis shaking so hard?

"What?" Lloyd asked fervently as Genis sat at his feet shaking like he had caught a nasty case of the jitters. "What's going on Genis and why do you look so pale?"

Genis didn't answer, which only made Lloyd's already parched throat run dryer. Genis didn't usually refuse to answer a question unless he had forgotten to speak out of fear, and the look of panic on his face told Lloyd that something was rotten and stinking to high heaven.

Swallowing hard in an attempt to ease his chapped throat, Lloyd got on his hands and knees, crawled past Genis and peered out where his younger friend had moments before. Though when he finally caught sight of what Genis had seen, Lloyd froze like a statue and practically swallowed his tongue.

Out in front of both gatherings of nonhuman children stood a horde of three or four desian guards, each in full uniform regalia, swords at their hips and helmets disguising their faces, and all looking rather stiff.

However, that wasn't what or rather who had stolen all of Lloyd's attention and made him deeply wish he could rinse out his eyes with soap.

At the front of the tiny escort platoon of soldiers stood in all of her scantily clad glory the leader of the Desian Five Grand Cardinals, Pronyma. Though Lloyd could only see her back, as she was facing away from the children while she addressed her Desian escorts, there was no mistaking who she was. She had the green part of 'Green Lady' down with her hair and her awful make up, and besides, no one else he'd ever heard of or met would have been caught wearing that kind of thing at all, let alone in public.

She still wore her usual skimpy bodysuit, that resembled a swimsuit Zelos had tried convincing Sheena to buy, which had resulted in a thwap to the head, ornate, yet still incredibly ugly pointed boots that reached up to mid thigh, and blue and gold gloves that matched the boots. The crown like headband atop her hair pulled into an emerald braid glittered in the now cloudy and grey atmosphere, and so did the horizontal halo of a cape, which both clashed violently with her thick, hideous and thoroughly green make up she was so fond of applying with a garden trowel.

All, the sight was one Lloyd wholeheartedly wished he could scrub from his memory with a sponge, some suds and perhaps about three weeks worth of elbow grease.

However, once she had finished instructing her minions, Pronyma turned on her spiked heel, gazed upon all of the children assembled before her, and smiled sweetly at them.

A smile so sweet, it froze Lloyd's blood in his veins.

"Hello again, my little lambs." She cooed at them all. "Your shepherdess has returned for her wayward flock."

* * *

**Woo hoo, chapter 17 finished!**

**... dang heat...**

**Lloyd: Heat?**

**Me: Yeah. Heat. It is hot. It's supposed to get hotter and I don't like it.**

**Lloyd: You don't like hot weather?**

**Me: No. I like hot weather just as much as I like hot colors and hot food. Not that much.**

**Lloyd: I don't like heat all that much either.**

**Me: Cool.**

**Lloyd: 'Cool'? But I thought you said you were hot.**

**Me: I am, but-**

**Lloyd: Then why did you say 'cool'?**

**Me: But that's not what I... oh, never mind. I'm going to go hide and hope the heat doesn't find me. **

**Lloyd: Okay. Well, while she does that, please review!**


	18. Close Encounters

**Hey everyone! Wow, it's close to august already? Man, where's the summer going?**

**Genis: It's passing by chronologically like it always does.**

**Me: I know that, I'm just commenting that it feels like it's going faster than it should.**

**So anyway, here's the long awaited chapter. It took me a while to write it, since that pesky thing called 'life's obligations and responsibilities' got in the way, I didn't have enough time to just sit down and take care of it and there were much in the way of editing to be done. **

**However, it's done now, so that makes me happy.**

**As always, thank yous to all of you who read, favorited, alerted or a combination of the aforementioned. Also, gratitude to silent romantic, freakyanimegal, Arisu Tsuranu, AngelofaWhiteNight, ThePurpleRose, Kiomori, Destiny's Light, Shadowsonicstar, Celestial Dream Weaver and apocalypse powaa for reviewing!**

**Edit: I forgot to do a disclaimer first time around, so here it is. I own not the Tales of Symphonia, for if I did, I wouldn't have to come back and disclaim myself.**

Chapter Eighteen: Close Encounters

"As promised, I've returned for another few lost lambs who are in need of a flock to call their own." Pronyma cooed warmly at all of the orphaned kids, her face plastered in a smarmy smirk she had made into an art form. "Now, everyone gather round so we can begin selecting the latest additions to our happy herd."

The instant she beckoned them, the entire compound of children swarmed towards her, kids pushing each other out of the way and running over each other to get closer. However, two children in particular snailed their way in the opposite direction, more concerned with keeping a low profile than making themselves known.

"Pronyma.. what the hell is she doing here?" Lloyd asked in a hushed whisper as he and Genis slowly inched their way towards the back of the crowd as discreetly as they could.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her around before, but from what I can tell, the other kids know her pretty well." Genis responded hurriedly, ducking under the elbow of a gangly limbed boy and glancing back at the makeup ridden Grand Cardinal. "They look really excited."

Lloyd snorted. Why would anyone have been excited to see her of all people? The first time he laid eyes on her, Lloyd had figured right off she was ten pounds of trouble in a three pound, incredibly tacky bag and that had been him. There was no chance they actually wanted to see her. The only thing that must have grabbed a hold of them and drew them forward had to be childish curiosity towards the oil painting of a woman in front of them. He knew that once the other urchins got a long look at her, they would draw back in horror and run screaming for the nearest bomb shelter. Curiosity, that had to be it.

"Yeah right. Like they would be so happy to see her." Lloyd scoffed skeptically, his arms folded against his black tank top. "The only thing people would be happy to see her for would be if they were making a haunted house and needed a really freaky witch for the finale."

"You don't believe me, just look at their faces." Genis retorted tersely, jabbing out a thin finger towards the rest of the kids and jerking his head towards them. Rolling his eyes at Genis, Lloyd scanned his eyes over the crowd, gave the rest of the children a once over and his jaw fell slack.

Genis had been right.

Sure enough, the children were all whispering to each other excitedly while at least three dozen sets of eyes locked onto Pronyma. While the girls preened and fluffed out their hair in an effort to garner attention, with the exception of the Professor, the boys stood up straight and puffed out their chests in an attempt to make themselves stand out.

'They don't have a clue who she really is, do they?' The rosy cheeked boy grimaced incredulously as he watched one girl in the very front of the female gaggle rapidly braid her hair like she was in the finals of the Tethe'alla national hair styling tournament. Noticing the sudden lack of Lloyd's commentary, he silver haired half elf at Lloyd's side caught sight of his friend's blatant expression of disgust, snorted and stomped hard on Lloyd's foot.

The six year old swordsman's eyes crossed and he bit down hard on his lip to stop himself from squawking out in pain. His lip now bloody and his foot feeling like it was on fire, his cherrywood eyes shot over to his four year old counterpart and he glared a glare that would have done Kratos justice.

"That hurt, what'd you do that for-"

"You had a look on your face that would have killed an eggbear at forty paces." Genis cut him off sharply. "If you got spotted, you'd give us away faster than Raine playing hide and go seek in a ruin." Genis didn't seem very fazed by his irritated stare, and if he actually had, he did a great job hiding it. Sighing to himself, Lloyd ran a hand through the stray lock of hair that liked to hang down in front of his eyes and let out a shallow breath.

'I really thought that was a good glare. I mean, not as good as Kratos, but still, it was a pretty good one. Still, it didn't work on Genis, so maybe I need to give it some more work.'

"Though, I suppose it makes sense. She must the 'Green Lady' they were all talking about."

Lloyd was thrown out of his own thoughts by Genis' offhanded comment and scrutinizingly eyed Pronyma, who was making her way down the line of girls, expecting each one and jotting down some notes on what looked like an overly bejeweled notepad. Green Lady? That kid with the hat who'd bothered him back inside the sleeping quarters had mentioned something about a Green Lady, but as for the finer points, Lloyd didn't have much to go on. Details and description were obviously not the orphan's forte, as he had been rather inept at forming a coherent sentence, let alone employing proper grammar. So, when in doubt, Lloyd turned to his friend also known as the living encyclopedia and raised an eyebrow at him.

"'Green Lady', huh? What's she do?" The six year old swordsman asked, his tone in a disbelieving snort since he couldn't picture Pronyma as anything close to a lady.

"From what I heard some of the other kids talking about, the 'Green Lady' comes to the Orphanage and adopts non human kids by the handful. Half elves, dwarves, you name it. If they aren't human or elven, she takes them." Genis replied, his arms crossed against his thin chest. Lloyd's eyes narrowed in on Pronyma again and a soft growl emitted from the center of his chest, his hands balling into fists.

Desians.

She was after desians. Not just any desians though. Future desians. That had to be the reason she was there. There wasn't any other reason Lloyd could figure that Pronyma would have such a vested interest in children if it didn't profit Cruxis in one way or another. After all, she could put on a show that the other kids would buy easily enough, but Lloyd could tell she wasn't truly a kind person. Her eyes were as cold as ice, no matter how much she smiled.

These kids would be perfect for embedding the desian template of thinking into their minds with little or no trouble on the part of Cruxis. All of these kids had either been orphaned, abandoned or a combination of the aforementioned, and none of them really had a bond that could serve as a parental form of guidance. Plus, as non humans, they had all be treated like second class beings by the humans, each with their own tale of mistreatment, each one more saddening than the last. Cruxis would simply wriggle in, take hold of the feelings of neglect and resentment and nurture it until it was full fledged hatred and distain for all humans, something that close to all of the desians seemed to cling to with every inch of their beings. Since they all ached for attention and a sense of attachment and belonging, the orphans would grasp hold on what was offered and never let it go no matter what.

There was no way they would be able to know any better. None of those kids had anyone to tell them otherwise, no one there to show them that there was more than what they thought. It would be all too easy to wrangle the ideals of Cruxis into their minds and embed the ideas of 'inferior beings' and before anyone knew it, they would be rebuilding the human ranches, sending more and more innocent people to their doom.

Taking in a ragged breath, Lloyd's eyes grew hot with anger while the rosiness in his cheeks turned a shade deeper. Once with the desians and Cruxis, it wouldn't take much to warp those kids into thinking exactly what Yggdrasill wanted them to think. After about ten to twenty years of brainwashing, that martel obsessed madman would have another army of completely brainwashed, thoroughly loyal and ruthless desians at his disposal for each of his twisted and insane demands.

An army of once innocent and harmless children.

"She's... she's taking kids and turning them into Desians?" Lloyd's fists drew tighter and tighter together until his knuckles ran stark white and his palms began to bleed. "That's.. that's.." The youthful first grader's voice ran strained and terse, while his hands squealed as his grip grew tighter and tighter.

"That's unforgivable!" the fearsome first grader roared, pure rage swelling in his eyes and his breath jagged and broken.

Jumping at Lloyd's sudden outburst, Genis swallowed hard and waved his hands up and down in front of his spiky haired companion's face in an attempt to quell his friend's brimming fury.

"Lloyd, be quiet or she'll hear you-"

"Well well, and what have we here?"

Lloyd froze, his throat dry, and the silver haired preschooler let out a small squeak of terror, his eyes the size of dinner plates. Both boys glanced at each other in a mixture of horror and panic, both hoping they were wrong about who was behind them, and turned on their heels slowly like they were being rotated on a lazy susan table platter.

Standing behind them in spiked heels and wielding her signature staff, Pronyma, leader of the five, or rather, two grand cardinals gazed down at the pair of boys, her face contorted in a saccharinely sweet grin. Lloyd swallowed hard. She must have crept up on them when they were busy trying to figure out how NOT to gain her attention.

'Just goes to show how well far that went.' The six year old swordsman snorted crankily, though his cantankerous mood only masked how shaky he actually was.

If being found by any of the desians or members of Cruxis could have been considered lucky, Lloyd had been very fortunate that he had been found by Kratos. Sure, Kratos was one of the four seraphim, one of the most powerful beings in the world and could have wiped the floor with him by just looking at him funny, but still, the master swordsman had rescued him from the Gaoracchia forest, healed his wounds and even let him tag along after him. Not only that, he had also said he wasn't going to let on to the leader what had become of his former teenage body, nor was he planning on turning Lloyd over to Cruxis. Honor, chivalry or maybe another reason, he didn't know exactly why Kratos had agreed to not rat him out, as he was supposed to be on the opposite side and all, but he wasn't going to question it if he wasn't going to get in trouble.

However, Lloyd knew that there was not a chance in Niflheim of Pronyma ever being anything close to 'chivalrous'.

Pronyma was one of the most fervent desians Lloyd had ever seen, completely devoted to her work as a lackey in the world dominating organization and strangely infatuated with its leader, Yggdrasill. It didn't take much to figure that she would love nothing more than to hand Lloyd over to Yggdrasill personally. The only thing that would make her happier would be if when she presented Lloyd to Yggdrasill, he sat on a silver platter with an apple in his mouth.

In short, if he was discovered, Lloyd would be toast.

The notion that perhaps Kratos had sent Pronyma to find him crossed his mind for a split second, but it became laughable the moment it registered. Kratos didn't seem the type to ask for assistance unless he really had no other option and, even if he did need it, it was laudable that he would send Pronyma of all people. Lloyd had only seen the pair of them interact with each other once, but that was enough to tell that Kratos was not fond of her at all.

In fact, utterly repulsed would have been a vast understatement.

'Can't say I blame him much. She's pretty icky.' Holding back an amused snort, Lloyd shook his head back into his current situation and stared down the tart of an adversary in front of him, his cherrywood eyes narrowed venomously at her.

'I can't let her know its me.' The small scale swordsman hissed to himself as he watched the head desian in front of him with all the attention an extremely hungry fox would eye a chicken with. She hadn't changed much since the last time he saw her on the summit of the Fooji Mountains. Her waxy pale skin stretched unnaturally tight across her face, while mounds of makeup had crawled onto her face and proceeded to found a colony. In fact, Lloyd began to wonder if she actually was physically capable of removing such a thick layer of face paint. From the looks of her, chances were pretty good that too many years of sedimentation had taken its toll and only the elements would be able to scrape away the misleading, yet meticulous makeup that comprised her features.

'How many layers of make up does she have on?' Lloyd mused as he continued to gawk at Pronyma's lurid appearance. 'I wonder if she sheds them off like a snake or chips at it with a chisel to get it off.'

Though, while her appearance was quite startling, her clothes nor her makeup weren't what unnerved him the most.

It was her smile that made him want to run screaming in the opposite direction. Pronyma's smile was so sweet, it made the hairs on the back of Lloyd's neck stand up on end and march down his spine in a parade. Though, from where her pupils were aimed and the hungry look in her eye, Lloyd got the definite impression she wasn't staring at him.

"What a magnificent specimen of half elf you are." The half elf strumpet purred at Genis, her faux nails clicking across the metal armor she wore over her shiny leotard. "You're positively bursting with mana and energy."

Lloyd forgot how to breathe. Pronyma, PRONYMA, queen of the fashion victims and most obsessively loyal minion to Yggdrasill, was staring at his best friend like a famished hyena who had spotted a freshly killed and incredibly tasty looking carcass.

Lloyd didn't like that look. He didn't like it one bit.

Regardless of whether or not the first grade swordsman cared for her expression, Pronyma strode closer towards the boys and eyed them both with a substantial amount of scrutiny. Still wielding her unsettlingly sweet smirk, the gaudy woman then bent down so she was eye level with the four year old half elf and leaned in, her catlike eyes narrowed slightly as she scanned him up and down with her pupils.

"What's your name, little man?" she sweetly inquired at Genis, her jade green eyeshadow glinting against the sunlight and contrasting terribly with her abhorrently bright gold accessories.

Genis didn't reply. All he did was stand there in the fading sunlight of the muggy afternoon, his face stark white, beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks and a look of pure terror adorning his face. The tiny half elf boy didn't make a move, save the uncontrollable shaking his body was doing all on its own.

Lloyd's eyes narrowed sharply as he followed Pronyma's every move and quickly shifted over to the four year old mage beside him.

Having known Genis for a quite a long time, he knew all too well that whenever Genis got scared or nervous about anything, the half elf would freeze in his tracks and he'd get some of the worst cases of the jitters the first grade swordsman had ever seen. He knew Genis was scared of what Pronyma might do to him if she decided to take him off with her, but shivering like he'd been thrown into an ice bath wasn't going to help him much right then. Lloyd had to think of something to distract the flashy desian lord and fast before his friend was taken away to Martel knows where for Martel knows what.

While Lloyd's mind raced with ideas on how to deter Pronyma's attention away from Genis without getting him injured in the process, said desian vulture continued to watch the tiny shuddering sorcerer in front of her, waiting for him to answer her. When it was abundantly clear to all that he was not going to give her a comprehensible response, as the response he had attempted was more like a squeak of a mouse that was being run through a laundry press, she sighed amusedly and smirked again at him.

"Oh, can't speak much, hm?" Pronyma cooed patronizingly at Genis, craning her neck forward so she get a better look at him.

It wasn't that Genis couldn't speak. He was quite the master of articulation when he wanted to be, which was most of the time as the controls of his mouth didn't seem to have an 'off' button. However, he just found it hard to speak when his brain had frozen solid due to being scared stiff. Being inspected like a holiday ham at a butcher shop didn't exactly do much to stimulate his arsenal of witty comebacks.

Still, Pronyma didn't seem to care. She instead examined him for a few minutes, flicked a piece of her own hair over her shoulder and sighed smugly like she had indulged in a warm, sweet drink on a cold winter's day.

"So young and so much potential. Lord Yggdrasill would be quite cross with me if I let such a talented morsel like you slip through our fingers." she purred smoothly, reaching out and tapping Genis on the tip of his pale nose. "You'll be coming with me. You'll be my prime sample." Stretching out her hand, the Cruxis crony latched onto Genis' forearm and wrist, her nails clicking against each other. Almost immediately after Pronyma's spindly fingers wrapped around Genis' arm, the little half elf wrenched his limb out of her grasp and reeled back in disgust like someone had dunked his arm in slime.

"N-no, g-go away!" Genis shouted shrilly with all of the valiance he could muster. Albeit, that wasn't very much, but it was a vast improvement to standing stiff like a hypothermic scarecrow. Snorting in annoyance, Pronyma shook her head, rolled her eyes and reached out for Genis again. She latched onto his wrist, this time with a grip that would have strangled a dragon, and pulled him closer, despite his desperate attempts to break off her hold on him.

"Now, now. Come quietly and there will be a sweet in it for you." She trilled, though hints of aggravation towards his struggling graced the edges of her tone, her simpering smile beginning to waver.

"Leave my brother alone!" The Professor's high, yet incredibly indignant voice bellowed from the other side, anger and panic laced in her words. Pronyma paid her no heed, but instead began dragging Genis towards the group of already selected children, all the while Genis tugging away with all he could.

Lloyd didn't have any more time to think of a clever plan, one that would save all of their hides while keeping them out of her attention. His time had run out. Genis was in trouble NOW.

_Don't think, just react._

Leaping forward, Lloyd bodyslammed himself into the side of the desian hussy and crashed his arm into the thin niche of Pronyma's bony wrist, tearing her hand from Genis' arm and sending all three of them sprawling into the air. While the two half elves careened in the opposite direction from each other, Pronyma staggering backwards and managing to catch herself, while Genis landed flat on his behind in the dusty dirt, his palms scuffed and filthy from where they had collided in the dirt, Lloyd flew through the space between them both and smashed mercilessly into the lifeless earth below.

Not missing a beat, Lloyd bounded to his feet, scrambled in front of Genis and spread out his arms in a protective stance, glowering fiery swords of death at Pronyma, who judging by the look on her face, was still trying to figure exactly what had just occurred.

"I'm not letting you take him anywhere!" The furious first grader proclaimed venomously, his eyebrows in a determined glare as he stood in front of his friend who still sat in the dirt.

Alright, announcing to the leader of the band of kid snatching desians that they weren't taking who they wanted anywhere wasn't probably the best idea that Lloyd had ever had, especially not when he already was wanted for trumped up charges and they were out for his blood to top it off. Plus, he was covered in dust, dirt and debris, he was unarmed and the size of a basic schoolyard shrimp, but someone was in trouble and he couldn't just go ignoring that. More important things were at stake rather than himself laying low.

Besides, he hadn't thought of a clever plan at that point, so when in doubt, he went with the age old plan of using himself to distract the enemy and lure them away from their original target.

It had worked in the past, so why not now?

He could keep a low profile later.

At that point, the entire gaggle of children had grown eerily silent, no one of them save the Professor, who was stuffed in the middle of the girl's group, daring to move a muscle or even breathe. The thoughts and wishes of being noticed had died out quickly, only to be replaced with the fervent urge to remain as unseen as possible for survival's sake.

After regaining her balance in her spiked heels, Pronyma coughed lightly into her gloved hand, seeming to have gotten her second wind, brushed her jade green tresses out of her slightly winded cheeks and turned her attention to the new powerhouse of angry mana in front of her, who gave her the evil eye in return with two years worth of interest.

"Oho, and who are you to stop me?" She simpered saccharinely at him, her eyes suddenly gleaming with the hungry look she'd sported whilst examining Genis. Snorting, Lloyd squared off his slender shoulders and scowled as menacingly as he could, hints of a smirk added in his scowl.

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine!" Lloyd challenged powerfully, his arms still aloft and his cherrywood eyes never straying from her lurid eyeshadow. Instead of being thoroughly intimidated as he would have liked, Pronyma merely threw back her head, cackled in laughter and shook her head at him like a puppy who'd slid across linoleum flooring.

"Quite feisty, aren't you?" She commented through her gales of laughter, wiping some tears away from her eyes as she did. "And what exactly are you?"

Lloyd silently stared her down, nary moving a muscle, nor budging from his spot as a living wall. That, of course, only sparked more laughter from the overly decorated cake in heels and made his cheek involuntarily twitch.

"Aha, I see. You don't know." She added whimsically. "Though, just by looking at you, your mana is very abnormal indeed..."

Lloyd inwardly grimaced. Was it really that obvious he didn't have a clue what he was anymore? He thought he was human, but after what happened the night before with the tests and what Zelos had asked about...

"It's almost like-"

"I don't care what you think it's like!" Lloyd interrupted defensively, still spread in a protective stance in front of Genis. "I'm not going to let you do to him what you did to all those others!"

"Is this how you get Desians? Go to places where there are parentless half elves, little kids who have no one and only know being treated like dirt, and trick them into believing what you say? That just because they got treated badly, they have the right to go around ruining the lives of countless others, just because of vengeance?" The indignant whelp of a warrior demanded angrily, his cherrywood eyes burning with fiery, unadulterated passion.

"That's not right. That makes countless innocent people suffer, just to settle a score." He added, shaking his head slowly, though it was obvious the flames of idealism weren't about to snuff out just yet. "People who didn't have anything to do with it."

"And don't you know what that does to the other half elves who aren't hurting anybody? It makes their lives even worse because the humans think they're a threat because of the stupid Desians and that only causes discrimination to continue!"

"What you're doing isn't helping the problem at all! It's making it worse for everyone, don't you get that!"

From behind him, a chorus of whispers erupted from the orphaned non humans, each having listened to Lloyd's idealistic rant and a sea of eyes widened as it hit home as to why they were being discriminated in the first place.

"You mean it's her fault that we're treated like dirt?"

"I thought she was going to help us, but she's making it worse!"

"Some help she is. What a load."

"I don't wanna make it worse for us. It sucks already!"

The shock and absolute terror finally beginning to wear off, Genis got to his feet, looked back at the other orphans, and his eyes lit up like the buttons in a human ranch control room. Beaming, he then turned to Lloyd and tugged on the six year old's tank top with his porcelain paw, his face shining as it was obvious the kids were starting to realize exactly who 'The Green Lady' really was and that she wasn't a lady after all.

"Lloyd-" Genis began, but silenced himself instantly when Lloyd shook his head once, his eyes never leaving Pronyma.

"Genis, it's okay. I got this." Lloyd looked over his shoulder at his half elven best friend, grinned and swiveled his attention back to the tarnished tart who called herself a 'grand cardinal'. "So you outta be ashamed of yourself, picking up innocent kids and twisting them into becoming ruthless desians!"

Lowering his arms a tad, the small scale swordsman eyed her up and down once, wrinkled his nose in disgust and snorted.

"Though, I doubt you have any shame left, giving what you're wearing." He added candidly, folding his arms against his chest.

"Big words from such a scrawny runt." Pronyma replied, her simpering smirk long gone to the wind, instead replaced by a rather dirty, yet intrigued frown. "You'd be a very nice addition if you can back up that mouth of yours with some strength, unless you're all bark."

That tripped Lloyd's last bit of self control. He'd always been on the skinnier side when he was a kid, not unhealthily so, just enough to be considered thinnish, and it hadn't bothered him much, but to have someone like HER call him on how he looked, that bordered on just plain insulting.

"Don't call me scrawny, you.. you..." Lloyd's eyes grew red hot and he said the first insult he thought of, one that Sheena had used to describe how Pronyma looked like to Regal when they first met him as he'd never seen her before.

"You painted up streetwalker!"

"Why you little brat!" One of the desians, who sounded like he was barely old enough to buy potion, bellowed in rage and pulled out the rider's crop that he had had tucked away in his belt. While Lloyd had never seen a desian wield something as elementary as that before, he guessed it was because the desian sounded rather new to the whole evil organization life and had been given a trainee weapon because of it.

Though, regardless of his weapon, the desian recruit wielded it like a scepter and charged for Lloyd, his riding crop aloft and ready to strike with all of his rage behind it. However, instead of being intimidated by the approaching threat, Lloyd merely shifted his weight into a fighting stance and reached both hands at his sides for his swords.

'This won't be hard.' The first grade fighter grinned to himself as he waited for the desian to get within range. 'All I have to do is get him once with a strong demon fang and he'll be down before I can say-'

'Huh?'

Lloyd paused, raised an eyebrow and looked down. His hands, instead of grasping the hilts of his swords, snatched onto a healthy dosage of air and not much else. In all of the excitement and tension that had coursed through the air, he'd completely forgotten that his swords were still stashed inside his pack in the orphanage's sleeping quarters and not at his hips where they should have been.

It was just like in the Gaoracchia forest, except this time he really was up a tree without a way down.

"Aw, crap. Not again." Lloyd groaned as he heaved a dejected sigh and his shoulders slumped in exasperation. Though, he didn't have much time to wallow, since a slick riding crop sailed through the air and aimed straight for his head.

"I'll teach you-"

Lloyd, having no other option, dodged to the left, avoiding the strike path, rolled against the hard ground and bounded back onto his feet, his body caked with dust.

"How dare you call the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals-"

He dodged again to the other side again, narrowly missing the arc of the crop from slashing him right across the face.

"-a 'painted up streetwalker'!"

'What do I do now?' Lloyd's mind raced as he dodged another strike aimed at his left shoulder. 'My swords are up in my pack and I'm not all that good at hand to hand combat-'

'_A sword or weapon of any kind is merely an extension of the body and thus oneself. Anything can be used as a weapon if viewed as such.'_

Words that Kratos had told him during their last training session reverberated through Lloyd's head, bouncing off the walls of his mind, and told him what he had to do. Almost immediately, the scrawny swordsman's eyes scanned the area frantically for anything that would serve as a replacement weapon.

'Think, Lloyd, think. There's gotta be something I can use-' At that moment, Lloyd's eyes settled upon a pair of dead looking tree branches that had fallen from the dehydrated tree.

Branches that were Lloyd sized.

'That'll work.' Hurtling to the side, the lilliputian dual swordsman dove for the pair of branches on the ground, snatched them while in mid air and bounded up again, his entire body positioned in a fighting stance. Bringing his arms up in a cross in front of his torso, Lloyd gripped the bottom of the sticks like he would his swords and hurtled towards his youthful desian adversary.

"_Hunting Beast!" _Lloyd slammed down the hard part of his shoulder into the chest of the desian with the full force of a charging monster, knocking the desian off his keel and staggering back in surprise. Without missing a beat, the diminutive branch wielding boy gracefully flipped up into the air and careened sharply onto the ground, which radiated a shock wave of focused mana right into the already out of balance soldier, and sent both riding crop and desian flying.

He kept sailing through the air until he finally crashed into the wall of the orphanage building with a sickening crunch, which made everyone cringe. He then slowly slid down the brick building, as he had been the unstoppable force that met the immovable object, and slumped against the mortar and cinder block structure, still conscious, but paralyzed in shock that a little kid had that much power.

Seizing the opportunity, Lloyd dashed forward, picked up the crop and snapped it in two over his knee.

"Aren't so tough without your crop, are you?" He spat, tossing both pieces of the wrecked whip on the ground in front of him. The youthful desian merely glanced up at him, blanched underneath his metal visor and remained silent, probably out of fear Lloyd would 'hunting beast' him again. It was at that point that Lloyd fully realized exactly who he had been dealing with.

The desian behind the mask probably was no older than he was in actuality, probably even younger.

'Probably a older generation of recruits from here no doubt.' Lloyd's eyes narrowed and the grip on his stick fashioned swords tightened. She was using kids who barely were old enough to shave at her beck and call, and they would do her bidding without thinking, as she and the desians were probably the closest thing to an attachment they had ever had.

That was just sickening.

"Now, now. I know you're upset on my behalf, which I do appreciate, but remember, we have a job to do and scaring the young flock will not help us." Lloyd's gaze shot over his shoulder in time to see Pronyma approaching him, her heels clicking on the flat dry earth below her.

"You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

She then turned sharply on her heel, swept Lloyd's legs out from under him with her staff, knocked him onto the dirt and stomped on his back, firmly pinning him to the ground.

"Though, fly paper does the trick just as well." The gaudy desian smirked smugly as she drove the heel of her boot into the miniscule boy's back, causing Lloyd to let out a strangled yelp of pain.

"Get off me, you weigh more than the Fooji mountains!" He bellowed with all the air he could manage to take in. Pronyma merely smirked, and sank her heel into his back further, only making him cry out in pain again. Meanwhile, Genis, his pulse through the roof and his legs as solid as lead, watched in horror as his friend was being impaled via a pair of hideous stiletto boots, too shaky to act.

"L-Lloyd." he whimpered, his round eyes the size of saucers. Though it had been nearly silent, Pronyma caught wind of Genis' whisper, glanced over at him, narrowed her eyes at the shaking four year old and turned her attention back towards the boy she had been using as a stress ball.

"'Lloyd'?" Pronyma repeated, her sloping nose scrunched, eyed the boy under her boot skeptically. Reaching down a hand, she removed him from under her boot, yanked him out of the dirt and held him up by his tank top at eye level she could get a better view.

"Now that I look at you, you do bear quite the resemblance to the other one called 'Lloyd' as well, and your fighting style is practically identical." The glitzy desian commented, her eyes inspecting the defiant first grader she held aloft.

"Just how do you know about the desians and... what is this?" Her eyes caught sight of the exsphere lodged on Lloyd's hand and looked back at her prey's face, a new glint brewing in her eye.

However, instead of replying, Lloyd craned his neck in, inspected her up and down once and snorted.

"You'd think with all its technology, Cruxis would have been able to do something about wrinkles." The tiny boy then retracted his neck in disgust, and laughed once hollowly.

"Guess not."

Pronyma paused, watched the boy in her grip for a second, smirked and then struck him across the face so hard, Lloyd saw stars and colors he didn't even know existed.

"You need to learn some etiquette, little man." She spat and dumped him straight down like a dead sack of flour. Normally, Lloyd would have caught himself or at least touched down more gracefully than that, but as she had hit him so hard that it felt she had ruptured his inner ear, it was all Lloyd could do to stop himself from getting sick right then and there. Landing well had to take a back seat to losing what little food he had left in his stomach. All he really wanted to do at that point was lay there and pretend he couldn't see the dancing fairies that kept prancing in and out of his vision.

The very moment Lloyd hit the ground like a bag of pudding and laid in a heap, not moving an inch, a fierce pulsation of thick, concentrated mana surged through the air, sending the hairs on the backs of everyone's necks straight out and stiff as a board. The kids, who'd been trying to keep a fairly low profile at that point, banded together and skirted off towards one of the corners, more concerned about getting away from whatever had unleashed that reverberation of mana than getting away from the orphanage. As a result, that left Raine, Genis and a very dazed Lloyd as the only children left in the area.

Lloyd was too punch drunk to focus in on exactly what it was, but from the way Genis and Raine had been looking around frantically, as had the two desians and Pronyma, he could tell that whatever it had been, it was gigantic, powerful, and incredibly furious.

Seizing the opportunity that the hussy in heels was distracted and gathering all the courage and fortitude he could muster, Genis swallowed hard, plunged a hand into his pocket, retrieved his kendama, and began to chant. Once the spell was complete, Genis spun on his heel, his silver hair flying about his face and set his sights on the 'green lady' who was still trying to figure out where the surge of mana had come from.

"LEAVE LLOYD ALONE!" the miniscule mage roared and pointed the top of his crimson kendama at Pronyma.

"_FLAME LANCE_!"

Genis had originally been aiming for her torso, but as he was only a fraction of his original height, he missed, the lance of pure demonic magma shot out of the heavens, through the air and pierced Pronyma's right thigh instead.

"GYAAHH!" the desian grand cardinal howled in pain and reeled back through the air, her leg charred and smoldering from the hot fiery missile Genis had sent right into her thigh.

"Lady Pronyma!" The first desian who had lost his crop across the compound, courtesy of Lloyd, gasped in horror. Both of the young soldiers ran to the pile of Pronyma on the ground and gingerly helped her up, as her metallic halo made it nye impossible to get up on her own, rendering her as immobile as a turtle on its back.

"Lady Pronyma, are you alright?" The second asked once they both managed to prop her back onto her feet.

"It is just a burn. He just grew to be.. rather feisty. No matter, it is nothing." Pronyma replied as she brushed off what was left of her leg, now just a bunch of charred skin and flesh. Though, anyone who looked at it could tell it was quite a lot more than nothing. The crispy flesh and smell of cooking meat said that much. However, Pronyma didn't seem to care, which didn't set well with anyone in the compound. Even Lloyd, who was still seeing spots from when she struck him upside the face, noticed she wasn't paying any attention to her new injury at all. In fact, instead of being overly concerned with the fact she now had a piece of barbecue for a lower limb, she sounded strangely... giddy.

"Besides, all it did was confirm my suspicions. You possess Kvar's angelus exsphere, so that settles it." She cackled while she glowed with exuberant satisfaction, her face in a unsettlingly smug smile. "This is perfect. Lord Yggdrasill with be beside himself once he hears the new that the once formidable Lloyd Irving is nothing more than a school yard whelp-"

BREE BREE BREE BREE

Pronyma's joyously malevolent banter was cut off when a blaring echo emanated from the side panel of her metallic shoulder halo and chorused through the sound stagnant air.

"Lady Pronyma, your communicator!" The other desian who still had his riding crop exclaimed and pointed at her shoulder with his free hand. Shooting him a look that said 'thank you for pointing out the obvious, you moron', the crunchy desian leader flipped open the compartment on her halo, retrieved the communicator from its pouch and opened it with a flick of her meticulously manicured nails. After a minute, the lady desian snorted in irritation, shut it with her other hand and turned to her private desian escorts, both of which were still in a state of alarm from the damage on her leg that had been dealt by a four year old brat with a kendama.

"It seems Cruxis is calling for me immediately. It must be urgent." She reported crankily to her troops and turned towards the exit, sporting a severe limp and looking incredibly put out. "Come, let us leave."

Both desian soldiers looked incredulously at each other through their face concealing visors and then both turned their heads so they stared at their burned, embarrassed and thoroughly irate leader.

"But Lady Pronyma, what about him?"

"Leave him for now. He's not going anywhere. Though I assure you, I will be back to pick up my latest selections, both the talented silver one and him." She then pointed to the one on the left, the one who still held his riding crop, and then pointed to the main gate of the orphanage, which was still as worn and depressing as ever.

"I want a garrison outside of that gate. Make sure no one except those in Cruxis enter or exit." She spat dangerously, not bothering to turn back and face them. "That is an order."

"Yes Ma'am." Both soldiers chorused as they saluted, not wanting to invoke her fury whatsoever. Hobbling over to the side of the gate where the wrought iron doors met, Pronyma shot back a glare that would have rendered a thousand men lifeless and hissed.

"Enjoy what time you have outside, Lloyd." She growled maliciously, her eyes narrowed and vicious. "It may be a very, very long time until you see the sun again."

Meanwhile, unbeknownst of Pronyma's scathing threat, Raine checked Lloyd for any signs of lasting damage while Genis snapped his fingers in front of the dizzy boy's nose.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" The miniature mage asked worriedly as he checked his friend's eyes for differing sizes in his pupils in case he got a concussion. "I'm so sorry, I froze up and I didn't help you in time." Blinking several times, Lloyd glanced over at Genis, and smiled goofily, though it was a tad more so than usual.

"Hey.. Genis." Lloyd replied woozily, punch drunk and his vision hazy. ".. ow, my head hurts."

"Don't move, she hit you really hard in the face." Genis latched onto Lloyd's head and held it in place so it didn't budge. "She might have knocked out your depth perception or inner ear or something like that. Plus, there was that surge of mana back there and I think it might have made your head worse-"

"Told ya... I had it covered." The pint-sized boy grinned woozily, the unruly strand that loved to rebel against the rest flopping on the bridge of his nose. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna... take a little nap." Yawning, Lloyd closed his eyelids and fell limp against the ground, out for the count.

"Lloyd!"

"He's alright, he's just fainted, but we need to move him immediately inside." Raine diagnosed, holding her former pupil's wrist and taking his pulse. "The heat coupled with the strike from Pronyma, not mention that surge of mana that happened didn't help. It's no wonder he lost consciousness."

"Is he gonna be okay, Sis?" Genis asked worriedly, still cradling the back of Lloyd's head in his arms.

"He should be after a while." The half elven professor responded. "But for now, we need to get him inside. He'll suffer heatstroke if he's out here any longer."

"Right." Genis stood up, brushed himself off and grabbed hold of Lloyd's pale pink legs. "I'll get the lower part, you get the torso."

Nodding in compliance, Raine snaked her arms underneath Lloyd's limp triceps and with a steady 'one two', both half elves lifted up his dead weight and with some repositioning, managed to balance him so he wouldn't fall off to the side or out of their grasp. Once he was firmly reconfigured, the two half elves hauled their way into the blackened, soot stained building as fast as they could, the unconscious carcass of Lloyd bobbing up and down as they ran.

* * *

From a ways away in an alley around the bend of another building across from the orphanage, the same beeping sound that had come from Pronyma's communicator echoed shrilly in the confined space of the pathway, until it was sharply clicked off, silencing its irritating call. Taking a breath and pocketing the comlink inside his breast pocket, Kratos stepped out from the alley, sword near his hand and murder in his eyes.

While he had only gotten there about five minutes before and he hadn't seen it all, what he had seen was more than enough to make him vow to turn the resident floozy of Cruxis into mincemeat the first time the chance presented itself. He'd seen Lloyd disarm the rookie desian quite resourcefully, he'd seen when Lloyd had been stomped on like a run of the mill doormat and he'd seen when Pronyma had struck Lloyd in the face so hard, it jarred his inner ear and sent him sprawling to the ground in a vertigo induced daze.

It was in that fleeting moment that something roared within the pit of his stomach and, before he registered what had occurred, Kratos had unleashed a tremendous shockwave of wrathful power, one that had turned the heads of all those with elven blood or an exsphere. He mentally cursed himself the second he realized what he had done, but it was too late. What was done was done, and he had to think of something fast, lest he let something else come to pass he would regret.

Making sure no one saw him, the seraphim swordmaster ducked into an alley, flipped open his comlink and, punching in an override code, sent a signal for Welgaia to summon Pronyma immediately. She was such a extreme loyalist to Cruxis, more specifically, Yggdrasill, there was very little chance she would deny an urgent summons from Cruxis' base Derris Kharlan. He just hoped she'd take the bait instead of sinking her garish acrylic talons into Lloyd like she so desired.

However, while he was sending the message, another explosion erupted into the air, coupled with a hearty release of mana and a fiery display of lights, quickening his pulse in the process. Could Lloyd have been at the end of that spell?

Though, as Pronyma, who he saw had in fact taken the bait, leave the orphanage's compound with a considerable limp, Kratos let out a slight breath of relief that it had probably not been Lloyd who had been hit and smirked at the mere taste of the retribution she was due. Once she no longer had the orphanage in her vision, Kratos clicked the comlink off and stepped into the fading sunlight, his eyes locked on the dampened structure surrounded by iron fences.

'I do not have much time. I must make haste if I hope to retrieve Lloyd while staying under the radar.' He thought as he crossed the street and made a beeline straight for the lanky desian garrison stationed just outside the gate. 'I just hope that was enough to draw her away for awhile and my blunder does not make her linger.'

'Pronyma, what you did you will regret, mark my words.'

When he arrived at the front gate, the angelic swordsman who had seen quite a lot in his four thousand years was actually, albeit mildly, taken aback by the guard on duty, if not out of sheer intrigue. The desian garrison, who looked more like a teenager late for play practice than a soldier, stood in front of the gate like a lanky statue, his hand tight on his whip like it was a golden relic.

"Sir, no one is allowed in or out of on the orders of Lady Pronyma-"

"I am perfectly aware of her decree." Kratos interjected authoritatively, his left hand resting precariously on the hilt of his sword. "However as I outrank her, I am fit to do as I please. Move aside."

"'Outrank'?" The desian repeated cluelessly, "But if you outrank her, that would make you one of the 'superior beings' and they never leave the big base, so-"

Kratos didn't have time for this. There was a very good chance that Lloyd could be injured or worse and this twig of a desian and his ramblings were not going to keep him waiting if he had anything to say about it. Instead of doing what he originally wanted to do, toss the guard into the fence and go about his business, Kratos flared out a small portion of his mana, just enough for the guard to sense his rank and allow him access that way.

It worked. However, it just worked a little too well.

When the guard caught wind of the small piece of mana he'd exhibitioned, he started to hyperventilate, backed up like he was being shot at and hit the side of the railed fence, making both the fence and the desian shake. Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Move aside, soldier." He sighed exasperatedly while the desian dislodged himself from the iron bars with the grace of an octopus inside a swiss cheese wheel.

"Sir!" The soldier, still hyperventilating, dove to the side of the gate and saluted as hard as he could, knocking himself in the helmet so the helmet, his glove and his head inside made an unsettling clanging sound. Letting out a pointed exhale to show his disdain with the stock of desian foot soldiers, the seraphim swordmaster strode past him, pushed the wrought iron gates open and entered the otherwise locked down compound.

Kratos didn't like to pull rank unless he had to, but under the circumstances that presented themselves to him, he had little choice. It was the only way that he knew that soldier would have allowed him entry, though if push had come to shove, he could have always just run him through with his sword and walked by anyway. However, as it was an orphanage and there were impressionable kids in the immediate area, perhaps violence wouldn't have been the best option. Pushing that thought out of his mind, Kratos advanced briskly through the now grey and cloudy pathway, the scorching sun long since masked by an array of clouds.

'Sybak weather..' He glanced up at the sky, shook his head and pressed on. 'If you don't like it, wait five minutes.' Brushing off the erratic climate, Kratos climbed up the steep stone steps, knocked on the door and pulled it open.

The orphanage's inside was just as grey and dismal as the outside, maybe even more depressing. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the floorboards were in disarray and the banister to the stairs had taken one too many riders, as it was bowed to the point of partially breaking off.

In the far corner of the entry room sat a dilapidated old desk with an even more dilapidated old woman sprawled behind it, an empty glass in her hand and an open bottle of bourbon in her lap, out for the count. Judging by the lack of bourbon in the bottle and how red her face was, Kratos perceived that most likely she'd been that way for about a half an hour, though several hand smudged small glasses littered about the floor gave the impression she had help finishing off the bottle.

Still, she was sleeping off her sorrows, and that wasn't going to help him much if he was to liberate Lloyd and his friends while slipping out undetected by Pronyma or her lackeys in a swift orderly fashion. Glancing around, Kratos noticed a door that had been ripped off its hinges resting against the wall, until such a time came that it would be repaired, and he got an idea. An underhanded and slightly passive aggressive idea, but an idea nonetheless.

'That will do.' He mused, walked over to it, and gently pushed it over so it crashed to the ground, sending a huge 'BANG' radiating through the orphanage's foyer turned office. The crash of wood on wood jolting her out of her stupor, the wrinkly old maid jumped up out of her chair, spotted her visitor in the room and stood up. Thankfully, she was still too tipsy to have pieced together that he had been the one to cause such a commotion.

"Welcome to the Orphanage-" The aged caretaker began, but a severe coughing fit that sounded like she was going to cough up a lung interrupted her and proceeded to keep her rather busy. Kratos watched her from a ways away and wondered what was still keeping that woman together. From the way she was hacking vehemently, any human would have been long since passed, but the instant he spotted her long pointed ears, Kratos fully realized what the situation at hand was.

An elf. That made sense as to why she was still breathing... so to speak. If not killed by others, Elves could live for years upon years, no matter what they did to themselves or indulged in, one of the many reasons humans envied elves and half elves, because they themselves could do the same. However, from the smell of cheap smoke, liquor and neglect that hung around her, there wasn't much surprise why she looked the way she did. He guessed that at one point she'd been rather nice looking, but too many years away from Heimdall and a fondness for cigars obviously had torn away her most of her youthful appearance. Now all she looked was something that could have stalked the haunted cemetery and fit right in.

"Sorry about that." The badly aged elf wheezed through the last bit of her fit. "Got this nasty cough from the city air and it aggravates my condition. Now, what is it you're looking for?"

Raising an eyebrow at the 'city air' comment, Kratos rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword and looked back at the antiquated old bird.

"I wish to inquire about the boy with the spiked brown hair that you recently retrieved." He stated authoritatively, his eyes peering into the squinty beads that were supposed to be the old elf's.

"Oh, him?" The old elf looked upstairs, coughed again and snorted. "Eesh, I heard what happened outside. Not here even one day and he's causing all kinds of holy hell."

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a particularly potent cigar and began fumbling with the lighter in order to get it kick started.

"Now that's one we'll never get-"

"How much?"

"How much is what?"

"The price of his release fee."

The caretaker dropped the cigar.

"You serious? For one of them?" The ancient elf croaked incredulously after several minutes of gawking at him, still fumbling with her lighter. "Huh. We haven't had any of the non humans go to anyone else besides that green haired bimbo in years, but if you want him, you can have him." She then picked up her still dormant cigar, lit it, breathed in and gave Kratos the evil eye, scanning him from top to bottom with her pea sized pupils.

"What do you want him for anyway?"

"He has talents that I have been looking for for quite some time and as such, I mustn't pass up such an opportunity." The angelic swordmaster replied, unfazed as if he'd been practicing for a week. The elf didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't care, because she shrugged, pulled open a filing cabinet on the side of her desk, retrieved the paper and handed it to him.

"Whatever floats your boat." She wheezed, her lungs and breath filled with smoke. "It's 6000 gald for him. It'd usually be lower than that for a standard non human whelp, but as we couldn't figure out what the hell he is, he's quite the rare squirt." Kratos reached for the papers, read them once and set them back down on the weatherworn desk.

"I see. And the prices of the two half elves with the silver hair?" The elf looked at him like he was crazy, but shrugged and retrieved the two papers that belonged to Genis and Raine.

"They would be... 3000 for the young boy and 2500 for the girl." She read off the sheet, her gnarled hands clutching the folds of the papers. "It's a bit steep for half elves, but-"

"Done."

"I.. wha- seriously?" The crone of an elf croaked in disbelief. "You're fine with paying that much for them?"

"Yes." Kratos confirmed, his patience beginning to wear thin. "And I will add 3000 more gald if the paperwork is dealt with swiftly and silently."

"Sure sure, whatever you say." The caretaker shrugged as she began filling out the paperwork as quickly as she could write. "They're upstairs, last door on the right. I'll have it ready by the time you come down, Mister-"

The dumpy elf started to say, but paused when she saw Kratos, who was already halfway up the stairs, shoot her a glare that said he didn't have time for this and if she wanted them out of her hair, she would do well to fill out the paperwork instead of question names.

"- right then. I'll just fill these out for you to sign."

Without even so much as a nod, Kratos resumed his ascension of the stairs, and stepped onto the rickety landing of the second floor. The second floor was just as bad as the first, if not worse, though the right was considerably less cared for than the left, as sad as that was.

'Even with children, discrimination still runs rampant.' The age old angel shook his head in disgust as he turned right and headed down the long winding hallway to the door at the far end of the hall. As he made his way through the unsound building, voices, young, yet familiar voices met his hearing and haunted them like crows in a cornfield. Frowning, he sped up his cadence towards the room at the end of the hall, the voices becoming louder and clearer each step he took.

"-where are you going?" A voice of a young boy piped up from behind the thick, scratched mahogany door.

"I'm going find something for him to eat when he wakes up. That's probably another reason he passed out." A second voice replied, his or hers terse and tight. Before the second could reply, light poured into the desolate hallway when the door at the end of the hall creaked open, just enough for a flash of silver to shoot out through the crack and into the darkness. Thanks to his enhanced vision, Kratos eyed the small figure dart down the hall, and, timing it perfectly, hooked the runner under the arms and hoisted it into the air.

"Let go!" The runner squalled, her voice indignant and irritated. Kratos snorted. Judging by the haircut, the bright orange poncho that even the darkness couldn't muffle, and the fact it was a girl, Kratos figured that the slight figure he had snagged was Raine, Lloyd's teacher and ruin fanatic extraordinaire. The affronted eight year old continued struggling like a fish on a hook until she wheeled her head around and saw who it was who was holding her aloft.

"Kratos?" Raine blinked through the darkness, her wriggling ceased out of pure astonishment.

"Don't ask questions. Time is of the essence." Kratos stated curtly as he set her back down, and looked for any other signs of life in the area, which thankfully the hallway lacked. "Where are your things?" The petite professor glanced over at the door that she had just exited and pointed back to it, all the while giving him the 'teacher's eye', a technique that could render a student docile at twenty paces. However, as Kratos was not a student, nor intimidated by her whatsoever, her glares had no effect.

"What I have left is in a sack under my bed along with my staff." She replied systematically, her baby blue eyes fixed on him with suspicion. Ignoring her icy stare, Kratos rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and gestured to the stairs with his shoulder.

"Go get them and wait by the entrance. I will explain everything later." The angelic lord replied, more focused on the door or rather, who was behind it. Raine wrinkled up her nose at him in pure distrust, but nodded nonetheless.

"... I don't trust you after your past actions, but I will give you the benefit of hearing you out later." Turning on her heels, the tiny teacher ran back into the room, and within a minute was in front of him again, a modest makeshift bag on her shoulder and her hands clasped on her enormous staff.

"I'll be next to the main desk." She added, then passed him and trotted down the stairs as dignified as an eight year old holding an oversized staff could without tripping. Rolling his eyes at her stubborn, yet waning grasp on what was left of her dignity, Kratos walked forward, gripped the handle of the door and pushed.

The room at the end of the hall was nothing more than rows upon rows of well used and not so well maintained beds, with brick and mortar walls and one lone window. The sleeping quarters were all but desolate, save two kids in the far back, one face up and asleep and the other flapping a red shirt up and down like a palm frond fan.

'Lloyd.' Kratos let out an involuntary breath of relief that Lloyd was still in one piece, albeit unconscious, but in one piece nonetheless. Grasping the brittle door handle again, he slowly closed the door, taking care as to not shut the door too loudly. The last thing he wanted was to startle Genis and attract unwanted attention to himself.

However, he wasn't quiet enough, because the ears of the silver haired half elf pricked up and Genis wheeled around, a triumphant grin plastered on his porcelain doll face.

"Sis, I watched him just like you said and-" Genis reported proudly, but froze when he saw Kratos instead of his sister, obviously caught off guard.

'I see my efforts at not startling him went very far indeed.' The angelic lord, tired of being gaped at like he was some sort of attraction in a circus, paid no attention to Genis' rendition of a goldfish and instead nodded to him once in a customary greeting. Sure, he was the size of a preschooler now, but customs were still customs.

"Hello."

"Kratos!" Genis squeaked as he jumped in front of where Lloyd was lying and spread his arms out like a silver chicken protecting its roost. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to retrieve Lloyd." Kratos replied, his eyebrow raised at Genis' crazed display. "So it would be helpful if you were to move."

"I'd like to believe that you're hear to retrieve him just because you're concerned, but 'retrieve' has multiple meanings. We just saw Pronyma and some desians wandering around and she made it pretty clear she's going after Lloyd, so anything or anyone related to Cruxis is suspect." Genis deduced, still using himself as a Lloyd protection plate. "I'd like to think that, but Sis told me to watch him so-"

"I attempted being kind, but my already slight amount of patience has reached its end." Kratos interrupted flatly, his hand at the hilt of his sword. "If you will not move, I shall move you myself."

"Oh really? And just how are you gonna-hey, put me down!" In one fell swoop, Kratos snagged the straps of Genis' overalls and hoisted him into the air with one arm so he looked like a thrashing, struggling tree ornament.

"Sis, Sis!" The halfling hellion bellowed for his sister all the while aloft in the air.

"If you would cease your squalling for a moment, you would have noticed that she is currently downstairs and waiting by the front door." The swordsman seraph pointed out, still keeping his grip on the convenient makeshift handles of Genis' overalls.

Pausing his caterwauling, Genis turned his large blue eyes to Kratos, eyeing him with confusion.

"Why's she doing that?"

"Simply put, I am taking you two as well."

"Why?"

"... There was a sale on half elves and I couldn't bear to miss out."

"... that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. Now, put me down."

"Not unless you agree to stop acting like a deranged guard poodle."

"Alright, alright, yeesh." Genis grumbled, thoroughly embarrassed and irritated. Exhaling annoyedly for the umpteenth time that day, Kratos set him back on the ground and let him go once his canvas shoes touched down on the splintery boards of the floor.

."So, you're not going to turn him over to Cruxis?" The miniature mage asked again, dusting off his clothes and rearranging them.

"That wasn't my intent, no."

"Oh, really? Well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt now, but if you pull anything the slightest bit suspicious, I'll turn you into toast, got it?" The sliver of a boy pulled out his trusted kendama out of his back pocket and held out menacingly at Kratos. "I've still got my kendama with me and I know how to use it!"

Kratos raised an eyebrow at him.

"I will keep that in mind." He replied offhandedly, strode past him and bent over to slowly lift Lloyd's unconscious carcass off of the bed.

'I've wasted too much time. I need to vacate the premises with them as soon as possible to avoid Pronyma and her minions-"

"Hey, be careful with him!" Genis squawked suddenly, his tone shrill and stringy. "He's all delicate, since Pronyma hit him really hard and then that surge of mana made it worse so he fainted, plus he hasn't eaten in a while, so that didn't help either. But don't tell him I said he was delicate, or he'll get mad at me."

Kratos, who had almost dropped Lloyd due to Genis' outburst, glanced over his shoulder at him and threw him one of the dirtiest glares he had in his arsenal.

"I am being careful, yet it is very distracting to adjust him while being given advice by a preschool know-it-all. So kindly remain silent and gather your things."

Letting out a high yelp, Genis dove for his own bed and began stashing what he had into a sack very much like Raine's. While he scrambled to put his own things together, Kratos gathered up the shirt Genis had been using to fan Lloyd, his backpack wingpack, swords and all, which he checked were inside.

After he accounted for everything Lloyd owned, including the exsphere that still rested on the back of Lloyd's hand, Kratos shifted Lloyd into his left arm so his sword arm was free, just in case.

"Are you ready to go?" He called to the silver mop of hair that peeked just out from the other side of one of the beds. A grunt and a sack later, Genis stood in front of the older swordsman and nodded, though from the looks of it, the sack was bigger than he was.

"Ever since I got here." Genis nodded and took off down the hallway towards the door, Kratos right on his heels.

Once they stepped onto the main floor landing, the elf caretaker was waiting for him, paperwork in hand, and quickly ushered him over to the desk where he could take a look at the final forms.

"It's done. All I need now is the fee and the signatures." She explained while pointing to the forms' bottom paragraphs. "Just sign here, here and.. here."

With a substantial amount of dexterity, Kratos paid for all of their fees, the extra incentive for her speedy assistance with the paperwork and signed each of the necessary lines, all the while balancing himself and Lloyd at the same time. As soon as he signed the last form, quickly made a copy of it with a flick of her finger and handed the originals to Kratos.

"There you go. You're a daddy now." The seasoned elf wheezed, flopping back into her chair, pulling out a cigar and flicking the lighter on. "Don't waste it."

Raising a disapproving eyebrow, Kratos curtly nodded, turned and departed from the depressing fortress of a building, both half elf urchins close behind.

The way out was much easier than the way in, Kratos noted as he walked nonchalantly down the crowded street. No one had blinked an eye when he'd left with three children, two of which half elves, and there hadn't been any instance where someone had stopped him or questioned what he was doing. The desian at the front gate didn't say anything to him either, perhaps out of fear, perhaps the standards of security with the desians had grown lax, or perhaps out of the fact he couldn't see because his helmet's visor had jammed shut. Either way, it made his life that much simpler, so he didn't really care about the details.

About halfway to the research academy, the seraph swordsman stopped his steady cadence and pivoted so he faced both half elves who'd been at his heels. Shifting Lloyd's weight towards his left side again, Kratos retrieved the forms with 'female half elf- age eight' and 'male half elf- age four' written on the top and held them out.

"Here are your emancipation papers." He told them both, the papers aloft and waiting for them. "Do not lose them." Both silver haired siblings glanced sideways at each other before the elder reached and latched her slender fingers onto the freedom forms.

"Thank you." Raine said sincerely as she took both hers and her brother's papers and held them in her tiny paws. Kratos didn't respond, but walked silently down the cloud covered streets, Lloyd still in the crook of his arm. Genis, however, snaked his neck over the side of the papers, crinkled his nose in surprise and looked up at him, his face perplexed.

"Wait, there are only two here. What about Lloyd's?" He asked, his silver eyebrows tapered in a frown. Kratos glanced at him out of the corner of his eye briefly, let out a shallow exhale and returned his eyes to the road in front of him that led back to the Sybak Research Academy.

"Never you mind. I shall hold onto it."

"But-"

"Genis, be quiet before you get us both smitten!" Raine smacked him on the back of his head with her hand and pressed a finger to her mouth. Instantly, Genis clamped his mouth shut, peered up at the intimidating seraph, and sped up his pace so he stayed at least five steps ahead. Kratos, Lloyd still in one arm and his other holding the hilt of his sword, watched both half elves slowly skirt away from his range and raised an eyebrow.

'.. smitten?'

* * *

"The lock's open." Zelos whispered in a rushed hiss while he stood in front of a large wooden gate that had 'employees only' written on it in big red letters. From the top of the thick gate, the tips of a puff of black hair frilled and within minutes, the rest of Sheena's face peered over, nodded and stuck her leg over the side again.

"That could have gone better." The miniature summoner stated flatly, jumping down from the gate's top ledge and landing silently on the cobbled stones.

Originally, the plan at been to pick the lock on the employee service entrance so they could get closer to the lezareno building, but as the mechanism was locked on the very top of the gate, Zelos and Sheena opted to plan B, which consisted of Zelos boosting Sheena to the top ledge of the gate and Sheena disarming the mechanism from there. However, Sheena's landing had once again been less than graceful and she now sported a stinging welt on her thigh from where she had collided with the sharp corner of the wooden gate.

"That was a really dumb idea." She added crankily, rubbing her sore leg with her gloved fist.

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Zelos retorted, craning his head around the bend to check for any carnies who might have been on break. "It's not my fault you lost balance because you swing your body one way to counter where your chest wants to go when you don't have one- OW!"

"You stupid excuse for a chosen!" Sheena brought her fist back from where she'd boxed him in the ear and aimed another at his jaw. Holding his now punched in head, the sarcastic chosen glanced up at the incensed summoner and grinned wryly, though the blow he'd sustained had muddied up his vision a tad.

"Aw, still sensitive a floor has more chest than you?"

"Why you-"

"Ow, why do you keep hitting me-" Zelos began to whine, but a buzzing sound like a bumblebee in a blender resonated from his pocket, scaring both chosen and summoner at the same time. Raising an eyebrow, the minute chosen reached into his pocket, pulled out the buzzing comlink and his eyebrows shot to the proverbial roof.

"Hey, it's Miss Angel." He reported offhandedly to Sheena as he pressed down on the comlink's 'on' button so Colette's link would patch through. "I wonder what she wants-"

"Zelos, I need help!" Colette's high voice exploded from the speaker of the comlink, deafening both grade schoolers in the process. "Yuan's asking about Lloyd and I promised I'd tell him some stuff, but I don't know what to do and he's getting awfully impatient!"

"Whoa, slow down. Now, what happened?" Zelos replied as calmly as he could, though he had absolutely no idea as to what she had just said. Whatever it had been, judging by her tone and how fast she had talked, Colette was very worried about something and as she was still with the renegades, it could have very well spelled trouble.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Colette apologized through the garbled speaker in typical Colette fashion. "He said he'd answer my questions if I did, so I thought it would be a good idea to agree, but I don't know what to do and-"

"Alright, alright, calm done. If you aren't careful, you'll make that cute little face of yours red as a tomato." Zelos sat on the ground with a flump and readjusted his coat so it puddled around him like a sea of cascading flamingo fabric. "Now, what you need to do is tell him things without actually telling him anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell him the basics, but no major details."

"How do I do that?"

"Just stall him for time, make it as long as possible." Zelos explained, twirling a strand of his crimson hair around his finger. "Entertain him with it."

"'Entertain'?"

"Yeah, just think of anything entertaining and roll with it."

"Like what?"

"Just use whatever you have on ya. What do you have in your pockets?"

"Um... I have some things I was working on while we were traveling, but-"

"Just use those, then."

"But-"

"It'll work." The shrunken second grader interrupted smoothly, cutting off Colette. "Roll with it."

"Well.. okay. I'll do my best."

"You do that, my sweet little Colette. Talk to you later."

"Okay. Thanks Zelos."

"Anytime, my sweet little angel." With a final farewell, the scarlet haired seven year old pressed the comlink's button again, made sure the light turned off, tossed it up into the air and caught it with his other hand.

"What was all that about?" Sheena asked curiously, a few strands of her ponytail puff flipping their way onto her shoulder.

"Eh, I dunno." Zelos shrugged as he stuffed the comlink back in his pocket. "Colette was freaking out over something to do with the blue haired wonder. She said she had to stall him for time, and I told her to think of something and go with it."

"Oh." The petite ninja looked down, frowned at the rogue strands of her puff, flicked them off her shoulder and glanced back at Zelos. "You think it'll work?"

"Not a clue."

"Like you ever have one."

"That's more than I can say for you, pancake chest."

"Hey!-"

"Hey, what do you kids think you're doing?"

Like they'd been dipped in icy pond water, both kids froze on the spot and turned slowly towards the gruff voice that had taken a vested interest in their breaking and entering. Standing behind them was a fuzzy white bunny with a cheerful grin, pink ears and a pink vest, balloons held firmly in its left paw.

"We.. uh.." Sheena and Zelos passed glances at each other and stared up at the gigantic balloon wielding mascot, not sure whether to run away in terror or fall down laughing. It was quite a weird feeling to have been caught sneaking into the employee's only area by a mascot, let alone a bunny with balloons, but regardless, they had been caught and there was nothing good about that.

"You aren't wearing your passes and your hands don't have stamps either." The behemoth in the bunny costume commented, his oversized bunny head looming over both of them. Reaching into his pocket, the rabbit pulled an old fashioned two way radio set and flipped on the dial.

"Hey, we've got a pair of park crashers." The smiling bunny's face croaked into the radio, completely clashing with his cheery vest and balloons. "I'll handle it and get them down to the lockup."

"Cheese it, it's the fuzz!" Zelos squawked, not waiting for the man in the animal suit to tuck his radio away, latched his hand onto Sheena's arm, and dashed in a mad sprint in the opposite direction from the huge rabbit with the radio, taking the pewit of a ninja along with him.

"Hey, you brats get back here!"

* * *

By the time the ancient swordmaster had gotten all three of his newfound livestock back to the lab room inside the Sybak Research Institute, Raine looked like she was about to fall over from wariness and Genis already had. Having little alternative on which to turn, Kratos had been forced to balance Lloyd's limp form in one arm while also carrying the sleeping carcass of Genis in his other. While Raine had yet to succumb to her fatigue, her tiredness shone through in her face and she leaned close to all of her weight on her staff for support.

"Go rest." He told Raine flatly once the party entered the lab, gesturing to the sofa that sat next to the door with a soft motion of his head. Not having enough energy to argue or inquire as to what he was planning, the teacher turned student nodded, crossed the room and sat down on the couch with a flump. It didn't take more than a minute until she was completely asleep, her staff and bag still clutched in her arms while her silver hair fluttered up and down in place. Sighing at her, Kratos then unceremoniously dropped Genis onto the couch, thrilled to be rid of his dead weight. Though, the petite preschooler hadn't seemed to pay his sudden collision with the couch much mind, nor did it even come close to waking him. He merely stretched, yawned in his sleep and flipped over.

'Perhaps there is something in Iselia that contributes to such sound sleeping.' Kratos mused, his eyebrow caulked. Rolling his eyes at both of the now snoring half elves, he turned his attention to the boy in his arms, who laid there limp, vertigo stricken and out cold. As the age old angel stood there holding the shrunken form of his only son, hints of remorse lined the corners of his eyes and he exhaled shallowly.

Lloyd had gotten hurt once again and it was entirely his fault that it had happened. Kratos had been so adamant on his stance of leaving his friends until a later date, he hadn't taken into account that Lloyd would rebel out of his own sheer nature and storm out. And, as a result of their both stubborn prides, Lloyd had been injured by the very same people he had set out to rescue his friends from. If he had just relented and gone with him to the orphanage, none of them would have been hurt, nor would Pronyma have learned just how small Lloyd had become.

'And through it all, after all of what happened, it turned out Lloyd was correct. His friends were indeed in danger.' The angelic sword master admitted, reaching up and running his hand through Lloyd's silky spikes of hair. What he had witnessed in those brief few seconds before he retrieved his comlink and sent out a false message to lure Pronyma away cruelly reminded him once again that that even though he was an angel, one of the supposed 'superior beings', he was just as capable of making grievous mistakes as he had as a young human.

As an added thought, from what he had gathered had been happening in that , the half elf section of the orphanage was no safer than the barracks of a desian base. It was just a matter of when exactly they would be called into action.

'Lloyd saw this and I.. I was too stubborn to even consider that I was incorrect.' Kratos glanced down at the limp boy in his arms and frowned darkly into space. 'Mithos, this is one more thing you will have to answer for when your time comes. I swear it.'

'In the meantime, let's see what the latest damage is.' Turning his gaze back to the slack boy still in his grasp, the ancient swordmaster sat down in the desk chair next to the machine, Lloyd's unconscious frame perched on his thigh. Taking care as not to scuff the fabric or the boy who was wearing it, Kratos lifted up the back of the heel imprinted black shirt and leaned in so he could get a better look.

Lloyd seemed to be alright, he thankfully hadn't sustained any physical damage this time, save two purplish bruises and an already bandaged arm which probably occurred prior to this, but from the way he had fainted after being struck, he probably was suffering from a mild case of temporary vertigo. That would go away fairly quickly, but the bruises on the middle of his back from where he had been used as a stepping stool were less than settling.

Pronyma. Kratos eyes narrowed dangerously as he placed a hand gently over the deep purple bruises and traced over them with one finger. The first chance he got, he would see to it personally that she was strung up over the side of Hakonesia Peak and then fed to a dragon in the Temple of Earth, one limb at a time. He promised Lloyd that.

Glancing at him again, the antiquated swordsman sighed tiredly, took the red shirt Genis had given him prior to passing out, slipped it over Lloyd's head and pulled his arms through the sockets. No amount of healing was going to help him right then. All that would help were time and rest. After he managed to redress the limp noodle of a boy in his overshirt, Kratos stood up, carried Lloyd over to the loveseat next to the magitech machine and set him down softly on the plush settee.

'For now, I should get to work repairing the diamond processor before the others wake.' He commented to himself as he assessed Lloyd resting peacefully on the loveseat. Slipping his coat and cape off, Kratos systematically folded them both and placed on top of the cushion on the loveseat next to Lloyd's chest in a neat and concise pile. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a pair of thin wire rimmed glasses and turned back to what was supposed to be a machine, though at that point it just looked like the star of a junkyard.

'This is going to take a while. Best get started now, I suppose.' He said as he rolled up his sleeves, picked up a toolbox and got to work repairing.

Barely a half hour had passed before rustling caught the sensitive ears of the angelic swordsman and a grunt that sounded like a pig going through a strainer filled the small lab's work area.

"Urgh... my head.. what hit me, a steamboat?" Kratos glanced over his shoulder once more just in time to see the thin rail of a boy sit up and rub his back gingerly with his right palm.

"I see you're awake." The antiquated swordmaster nodded curtly at him, his face smudged with oil and grease from working with metal. Upon hearing his voice, Lloyd jolted and stared at Kratos, his jaw slightly agape. Kratos frowned. He supposed he could understand why Lloyd was staring at him, as he was covered with oil from the machine and was wearing glasses as well, but did he really have to stare?

"Kratos, I found you!" He exclaimed, bounding to his feet, and, albeit gingerly, ran over to him. Kratos raised an eyebrow at the now conscious kid and reached for a wrench next to him.

'And yet I was the one who actually found you.'

"That you have." Kratos replied, keeping his comments to himself and shifting his eyes back on the gigantic machine that was starting to come together. "Though I was unaware you were looking."

"I was, but I got caught before I got far." Lloyd answered, stifling a yawn with his sleeve. "Where're Genis and the Professor?"

"Both are asleep at the current moment, as the scare you gave them earlier taxed their systems." The elder angel gestured to the other couch in the entryway with a flick of the wrench he held. Lloyd's eyes followed where he had pointed and spotted both half elves passed out on the cushions. Letting out a light sigh, Lloyd scratched the back of his head and glanced back at Kratos, looking thoroughly abashed.

"Did you.. see that?" The slight six year old asked quietly, the tips of his brown shoes scuffing along the tiled floor as he fidgeted. Peering over his shoulder at the small sized squirt, Kratos raised an eyebrow and nodded once.

"I did."

Lloyd flushed, obviously embarrassed Kratos had seen him get stomped on by Pronyma and tugged at the bottom of his red shirt, his eyes locked on the floor. He stayed like that for a good minute or three, at which point Kratos sighed, tired of waiting, plucked one of the bolts out from the tray of metal he had placed next to him and measured it against one of the spaces in the frame of the machine.

"Kratos, I... er.. I'm sorry for the way I acted back there and everything that I said." Lloyd finally spouted, his shoulders slumped and the rest of him thoroughly ashamed. "You were right, I shouldn't have dived in without thinking and all it did was get everyone into more trouble." He looked like he wanted to say more, but Kratos held up one of his hands, the wrench free one, and shook his head once.

"While your apology is duly noted, what you said was correct." The elder angel interjected calmly. "You did what was morally right, though illogical, and due to my own reticence to assist you, you were injured. For that, I apologize."

Lloyd stared at him. Kratos stared back. Judging by the expression of shock on his face and his mouth ajar, Lloyd was lost for words that Kratos actually admitted that he was wrong.

'Is it really that odd that I apologized?' The antique angel thought irritatedly, shifting his attention back to the machine and noting one of the bolts had come loose on the side. 'I know I'm not always right. Though.. I will acknowledge I don't like to admit it.' Glancing back over at the slack jawed six year old, Kratos raised an eyebrow at him and sighed.

"Lloyd, close your mouth, you look like a beached carp."

"Uh... okay." The shrimp of a swordsman shut his mouth, ceasing his fish impressionist act. He then gazed around the room once, rubbing the edge of his nose with his sleeve and then peered at the oil covered angel who was losing his battle with the leak.

"By the way, Kratos, where the heck am I? This doesn't look like the orphanage."

"That is because it isn't the orphanage." Kratos replied curtly, annoyed at having just been squirted in the face with a stray leak of oil. "You are currently inside the lab back at the Sybak Research Institute once again. When I finally tracked you down, I liberated both you and your half elf friends and brought you here."

"Huh, I don't remember that."

"That would be because you were unconscious, Lloyd."

"But how'd you do it?" The former teenager asked curiously as he stood next to Kratos, who still was attempting to appease the oil leak in the side of the machine. "Genis said the only way to get out of there was if an adult gave the go ahead.."

Kratos sighed and set the wrench down. He knew this was coming and how he was going to maneuver out of this one he didn't really know. However, Lloyd didn't know that, so at least that was in his favor.

"As it was necessary to procure your freedom, I paid the fee required for your release." He replied simply. That was the truth in essence, though a bit edited. He hadn't lied by any means, he just had omitted certain truths.

"Oh, I get it." Lloyd nodded, his arms folded against his slender chest. "So, it was like bail then."

Pausing, Kratos looked over at his son incredulously, the leak on the side panel temporarily forgotten.

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, bail is what you have to pay to get out of prison if you have that option because you didn't do anything too bad. However, until you pay, you can't leave. So, what you did was kinda like bail."

"How praytell do you know about that?"

"Regal told me all about it 'cause he's the president of the Lezareno company and he's done a lot of work with legal stuff. Plus, he was also in prison, so he knows about that kind of stuff."

"... you're spending time with an ex-convict?"

"Yeah, but don't get the wrong idea. It wasn't his fault it happened. He didn't want to and he didn't have a choice."

"Oh?" Kratos turned back to the still mangled diamond processor and wiped off some of the oil that had puddled around the rim of the metallic edge.

"Yeah, what happened to him was the same thing that happened to my dad." Lloyd confirmed fervently, cherrywood eyes gleaming with sincerity. "And he's paid more than twice for it, but he's still punishing himself."

"... ah."

"Yeah, so is it the same thing?"

"... while it is similar to bail, dealing with an orphanage isn't as simple as that, Lloyd." The age old angel explained cautiously, taking great care in selecting his words. "There must be an adult present to sign several sets of adoption paperwork for the orphan in question and then pay the fee-"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, 'adoption paperwork'?" Lloyd interrupted suddenly, all of his attention now fixated on the man in front of him and his eyebrows caulked in a confounded frown. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

Kratos sighed and put down the rag he'd been using to clean up the mess all over the tiled floors. No matter which way he turned, it was pretty obvious that there was any way he was going to be able to verbally escape Lloyd's questions this time. He'd figure it out sooner or later and it was better to tell him now rather than later when he found out via one of his friends.

"That means the moment I signed the contract that released you from the orphanage, I took you into my custody and became your legal guardian."

"Wh.. WHAT?" Lloyd exclaimed so loudly that would have woken the dead, eyes wide and stunned. However, the dead and half elves must have been separated by some kind of mystic barrier because Raine didn't move and Genis yawned and flipped over again. Kratos merely kept his eyes locked on Lloyd's own cherrywood pair and observed him, giving no hint how much the cry of pure unadulterated shock had rang through his sensitive hearing and almost made his eyes cross.

"You needn't shout." Kratos replied flatly, giving Lloyd a deadpan look. "Luckily for you, I happen to be in the same side of the city, though I doubt I would have had an issue hearing you from the other side with your volume."

"Er... sorry about that." The tiny first grader said abashedly, though his gaze never wavered from Kratos. "But how do you mean, 'legal guardian'?"

"It means I'm responsible for you, in Tethe'alla at least." The angel turned mechanic explained, cleaning off some of the oil from the wrench with a rag. "Think of it as I have been assumed the responsibilities of a parent."

"A parent?" Lloyd blinked in bewilderment, trying wrap his head around the current situation. "So, you're like my dad now? Is that what that means?"

Stopping his steady removal of the oil, Kratos glanced at Lloyd briefly out of the corner of his eye and turned his gaze back to to the rag and wrench once again.

Dad.

A title he'd forsaken long ago the moment he'd thought his son to be dead, nor had he sought it again once he realized his son was in fact still alive and well. After all he had done, all he had put Lloyd through, the last thing he deemed himself was such.

Though, in the eyes of the law system in Tethe'alla, personal opinions of oneself didn't have any merit in bureaucracy.

"Legally, I suppose you could say that." He relented, his eyes still focused on the wrench with all the control he could muster.

"You don't... want me to call you that.. do you?"

His first thought and instinct had been to say yes, but years of training, discipline and self control held back his response to merely setting down the wrench in the tray and staring at the rag soaked in machine fluid.

'I have no right to that name.' He thought sternly, his hand still clutching the oil drenched cloth he'd been using for cleaning off his wrench. 'Any chance I had for that name was ripped from me the day I went back to Cruxis.'

'Fathers raise their children. Fathers protect them and aid them when they need it. Fathers don't constantly put their children in danger. Fathers don't betray their children. Fathers don't practically hand over their own sons to the maniacal leader of an evil organization with the sole purpose of resurrecting a false goddess who has been four thousand years dead.'

'Fathers don't do what I've done.'

So, instead of losing his carefully controlled and composed exterior to his conflicted emotional center, Kratos removed his now oil splattered glasses, picked up one of the cleaner rags next to him and proceeded to wipe off some of the machine fluid from the lenses.

"I do not expect you to, so do as you wish. It is not my intention to usurp anyone." He replied cryptically, making very sure his eyes never left the grey smudges on his glasses. Blinking, Lloyd stared at Kratos, his face uncomfortable, then over to the side, down at his shoes, up at the ceiling and then back to the rim of his shirt.

"Er.. uh.. alright then... I'll.. er.. decide later..." He murmured, the full awkwardness of the situation bearing down on his small six year old frame. A thick silence then settled over both the seraphim and six year old and hung in the air like a curtain of a willow tree. That suited Kratos just as well. He wanted to deviate from this topic as soon as he could as he was growing increasingly uncomfortable by all of the memories of why he wasn't fit for that name kept bombarding his mind.

"So, uh, what are you doing?" Lloyd finally tried at a stab at conversation, as it was fairly obvious he couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"I'm repairing this machine." Kratos replied, gesturing to the hunk of metal that was supposed to be a machine with his free hand. Rubbing his nose with his sleeve, the spiky haired boy leaned into the machine and ran a hand down the smooth surface of the processor, thoroughly covering his hand in muck in the process.

"What's it for?" Lloyd asked as he looked down at his hand and grimaced, the grease between his fingers sticking them together. Sighing at him, Kratos reached for a new rag and handed it to him.

"It processes a certain ore that I am collecting." The older man replied, as he picked up a new bolt, inspected it and placed it back on the tray.

"What for?"

"It is merely a lark I am pursuing."

"Isn't that a kind of bird?"

"It also can be used as an abstract expression, Lloyd."

"Oh." Lloyd drew his head back and peered at the angelic lord, his head tilted to the side. "Can I help? I'm pretty good with that kinda stuff."

Kratos didn't reply, but instead set down the tray of bolts he had been holding and closed his eyes, actually looking tired for once.

".. Kratos?" Lloyd repeated, gingerly waving a hand in front of Kratos in an attempt to bring him back from his thoughts.

"If you wish to help, climb onto the side of the machine and tighten all of the bolts along the edges." Kratos finally pointed to the side panel of the machine that had squirted him with oil, or more specifically the bolts that had allowed said leak to come to fruition. "They need to be secure otherwise the machine will start to wobble and leak again."

"You can count on me!" Lloyd slipped his red shirt over his head, bounded towards the machine, snagged a wrench out of the gigantic toolbox next to the tray and scrambled up so he could reach the bolts on the edge of the gigantic magitechnological contraption.

"Oh.. and Kratos?" The tiny boy craned his neck over the side of the plating so he stared down at the older man below.

"Hm?" The angelic sword master glanced up from the lower plates of the ancient machinery, his oil stained auburn eyebrow arched.

"What's 'blue' mean?"

* * *

**Yay, the chapter is now done. Hooray.**

**Lloyd: That was pretty long.**

**Me: Yeah, but it was necessary for what I have coming up.**

**Lloyd: What's that?**

**Me: Not saying. I'm just sowing the seeds of plottiness. You'll see later. Until then, nothing telling.**

**Lloyd: Ohh, I get it. Okay, I'll be right back!**

**Me: Where are you going-**

**... why are you wearing gardening gear?**

**Lloyd: You said you'd been sowing seeds of plot stuff. I'm gonna go find them.**

**Me: Lloyd, it's just a figure of speech-**

**Lloyd: To the garden!**

**Me: *sigh* At this point, whatever makes him happy.**

**Please review!**


	19. Confusing Quandaries

**Woo, hello everyone! I can't really think of anything witty right now, so I'll just cut to the chase and get this gravy train rolling.**

**Lloyd: You have a train.. made out of gravy? Where do you get one of those and can you get one with roast beef?**

**Me: No, Lloyd, it's just an expression. Anyway, thank you to all of you who read, favorited, alerted, did both and.. uh... like pie. **

**Lloyd: Pie?**

**Me: Pie. And immense gratitude to Arisu Tsuranu, silent romantic, freakyanimegal, Symphony of Angels, Shadowstarsonic, ThePurpleRose, AngelofaWhiteNight, Celestial Dream Weaver, and Destiny's Light for reviewing!**

**.. I'm running out of adjectives for 'big'... to the thesaurus!**

**Colette: When you can't think of words, you go see a dinosaur?**

**Me:... I'm not even going to try to answer that one.**

**Disclaimer time! I don't own Tales of Symphonia, because if I did, someone would have told Raine by now that polycarbonate is just a fancy word for plastic.**

**Raine: LIES!**

**Me: It's true. Yggdrasill pretty much sealed off the temple of fire with tupperware.**

**Colette: I wondered why it smelled so fresh.**

**Me: Yep. Oh, and also as a side note, there are some references to the Tales of Symphonia official manga extras chapters in here, so if there is any confusion, go read them and it should be all cleared up.**

**Edit: I just edited the part about the adamantite, so thank you to AngelofaWhiteNight for pointing it out!**

Chapter Nineteen: Confusing Quandaries

In the back of the Altamira amusement park sat a moderately sized, yet well maintained building that had been painted a cheery lime green color inside and out at one point. However, over the years the paint had faded so it resembled pale avocados. On the side in a vertical script the words 'Employees Only' had been painted with black and blue stenciled letters, though most of that had faded over time as well so instead it read 'eploees ony', none of which made any sense. Though, regardless of the misleading labeling, the feel was still the same.

Teaming with multiple rooms and hallways, the employee's only headquarters had gained a lot of use over the years, both allowing for access storage and a haven for the hard worked employees to escape from their overbearing herds of customers. It would have actually been slightly pleasant, had not cries of anger and unhappiness reverberated inside the structure, the shrill and dulcet tones of irate indignation stinging the air.

"Hey, ow, leggo of me!" Zelos squalled loudly as he struggled against the iron yet furry grip of the park mascot turned bouncer, his legs flailing and kicking in midair. "And watch the hair!"

As much and as long as Zelos had strained against the hold the mascot had on his torso, he hadn't budged an inch, nor had any glimpse of him budging made itself present. So, when he wasn't able to do anything about a situation that he deemed less than fantastic, he went to the backup plan he always fell back on when in trouble.

He commented about it. Loudly.

Zelos had been complaining vociferously ever since he'd been caught by the tails of his trench coat and it was obvious he wasn't planning on stopping any time soon. Ignoring the grating demands of the seven year old park crasher, the mountain of a man in a bunny suit lumbered over to the bar lined cell in the far corner of the chamber just behind the locker room, yanked open the door and tossed both Zelos and Sheena into the holding chamber. Both summoner and lecher landed like lead in a lake on the cold stone floor of the cell, and sprawled out on the floor in a heap. Once he hit the granite tiling, the shrunken chosen lost all feeling in the back of his coccyx and his eyes crossed in agony for his besmirched tailbone. Letting out a pained groan, he inhaled raggedly, the wind having been knocked out of him, and locked his aquamarine eyes onto the bunny's smiling visage, indignant rage broiling in his irises.

"That hurt, you sorry excuse for a cape collar!" Zelos squawked furiously at him while rubbing his numb tailbone with the flat of his palm, glaring buckets of loathing at the masked rabbit for messing up his hair and dumping him on the ground to boot. "Y'know, for a mascot you could be nicer!"

"For a kid, you could not be a deadbeat." The rabbit replied flatly, his white, padded paw deflecting the hurls of insults sent his way via the highly aggravated acolyte. Shaking his bunny bobble head, he slammed the barred door with a bang and locked the barred door with an old-fashioned set of keys. Dusting his hands, or rather paws, the large rabbit then stalked to the door, wrenched it open and tilted his gigantic head backwards so the slits in the bunny head were pointed at the now raving boy on the floor.

"Have fun rotting." He snarled sharply and, with an almighty jerk, slammed the door shut, leaving the pair of park crashers alone and detained inside the dank and desolate holding cell. In the wake of the gigantic, weighty door crashing into it's frame, dust flew up around the room, floating towards Zelos and making him sneeze vehemently. Once the dust had sufficiently made it so he couldn't breathe without sounding like a beached trout, the particles of filth fluttered back down on the ground, caking both the ground and everything on it with grime, namely Zelos.

Muttering something about how much a bowl of rabbit stew sounded good right about then, the irritated chosen brushed the dust off his flamingo pink trench coat with a flick of his wrist and glanced over at his cellmate, who had been rather quiet for someone who'd been mauled by a mascot. Zelos frowned. Normally, if Sheena was annoyed about something, and a good portion of the time when he was around she was, and at HIM in particular, she had no problem saying so. In fact, she was quite adept at letting him know exactly what she thought, usually at a volume that could render any life form in a two kilometer radius deaf.

However, only when she was really ticked was she as deathly still as a crouching 'gorgony' panther, about to fillet her victims with a well placed paper cut.

And she was deathly still.

That didn't bode well.

She stayed like that for well over a century, or what felt like one anyway. In reality, it had only been a few minutes. However, Zelos wasn't interested in trivial things like reality. Right then, all he cared about his perception of time and how he liked perceiving himself as alive. Though, apparently in a few minutes, in his case, perception could be a lot different from reality.

"Hey, Zelos." The petite summoner murmured softly, her face enshrouded in shadow. Feeling like his head had been welded in place with a blowtorch, Zelos managed to swivel his head around and spot the seething mass of energy that used to be Sheena.

".. what?"

"Y'know when I said if we get caught, I'm blaming you?" Sheena's hand shot out like a piston and her fingers latched onto the lapels of his coat, reeling him in so his nose was about an inch away from her own.

"Well, guess what? I AM!" With the speed of anyone retreating from Raine's culinary experiments, the enraged ninja's fist sailed through the air like a hammer and connected with the top of Zelos' head, knocking him from her grasp and sending him crashing onto the floor again.

"Yeow!" the now wounded chosen wailed in pain, clutching his throbbing head, the pain from where she'd nailed him with her fist still ringing in his ears. Just as he made to get up, the incensed assassin stamped down her brown leather boot between his shoulder blades, successfully pinning Zelos to the dusty stone floor.

"Thanks to you and your stupid plan, we're stuck in kiddy jail! And guess what? We can't get out of here if we don't have a chaperone! Where the heck do you think we're gonna find someone like that? It's not like they just pop out of nowhere, y'know! " Sheena scoffed furiously, her arms folded over her flat chest and her boot planted firmly on Zelos' back as she stomped on him. "What's your plan now, O Wise and Powerful Chosen One? I hope it'll be enough to save your bacon!"

"I got a plan, I got a plan!" Zelos waved his hands up and down as well as he could in a show of surrender. "Lemme up before you squish me!" Snorting disbelievingly, Sheena nonetheless removed her boot from his back and eyed him disdainfully as the diminutive swordsman righted himself. As soon as Zelos made sure he was standing up straight, he dusted off his coat for the second time, ran a hand through his hair and felt his head for any indentations that could have resulted from the pounding he'd just received.

"This had better be good. What's your plan?" She asked skeptically, her raven eyebrow arched as Zelos struggled to tame his hair, as it had gone every which way. After he mussed his hair back into place for the umpteenth time, the rumpled chosen cleared his throat and turned on his heel, staring straight on at the irritable ninja, his aquamarine irises fixed on her hazel ones. Without breaking his eye contact, Zelos pointed to the bars with one slender finger and grinned wryly.

"We aim you at the bars, you use your banshee lung powers on the next staff members to come in here and once they're knocked out, we steal their keys and make our escape through the door."

"Why you-"

"Perhaps it would wise if you both keep your voices down, lest you attract attention from the guard on duty."

Both chosen and assassin froze and glanced at each other, eyes the size of Nova's caravan wheels. During his most recent encounter with Sheena's fist, Zelos had been ducking, defending and digging himself deeper into a hole with his mouth, but he hadn't said anything like that. He didn't know exactly who had, but one thing was certain.

They weren't alone.

The first to break the stunned gaze of temporary terror that had settled over both school kids, Zelos peered over his shoulder towards where the voice had originated, searching the shadows in the corner for any sign of movement. Maybe it had been a ghost. Ghosts had a tendency to haunt fairly depressing and creepy places like prison cells, right?

Though, in the pit of his stomach, Zelos highly doubted he'd be that lucky.

In the far back of the holding chamber, resting up against the wall, sat a shadowy figure that he couldn't tell exactly how big or old it was. After all, he was kind of in the shadows. Bad lighting did nothing for Zelos' perceptive powers. Sighing tiredly at both the frozen expressions of surprise adorning both their faces, the shadowy figure stood up and walked out from the shadows, revealing an eleven year old boy with unkempt cornflower blue hair tied back in a messy ponytail. He wore what looked like an old button up shirt that was about two sizes too big for him, the cuffs rolled up four or five times so they rested on his elbows, and a pair of very simple green pants with brown leather shoes. However, the most striking thing about him was the pair of pink plastic handcuffs cuffed around his wrists.

The instant his eyes met the cuffs, Zelos craned his neck forward, narrowed his eyes and scrunched up his nose, eyeing him up and down like a copy machine would scan a paper.

"Regal?" The second grade swordsman asked inquiringly, nose still scrunched up and eyebrow raised. The eleven year old gave Zelos a flat look, but nonetheless raised up his toy handcuffs and nodded once in compliance. Letting out a ragged breath of relief, Zelos' knees gave way and he flopped onto the floor, his pink coat fluttering around him.

"Oh, thank Martel. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack." The philanderous chosen clutched at his heart and leaned against the bars of the cell for support, wiping some sweat from his face with his sleeve. Snorting, Sheena rolled her eyes and nudged him in the ribs as an attempt wake up call to knock off his dramatics.

"If only we'd be so lucky." She retorted crankily, still sorely watching Zelos out of the corner of her eye. As usual, the undersized chosen paid her little mind, his focus instead on the petite president with the pink plastic handcuffs. Regal looked pretty much like he had last time he had seen him, albeit with smaller clothes and 'new' handcuffs, but something was missing.

"Hey, where's 'Little One'?" Zelos asked as it dawned on him that what was weird about Regal, other than his size and the pink cuffs, was that he was alone.

"Presea and I were separated shortly upon entering the park." The miniscule martial artist replied heavily, "We had agreed on splitting up in order to work twice as efficiently. That plan went well for a while, but due to my carelessness, I was apprehended by my own security staff."

"Eesh, tough break, there. Well, at least they did a good job, right?" Zelos shrugged and yawned, the whole day having been rather exhausting. After sneaking into a park, solving Colette's Yuan problems, running away from mascots, getting caught by said mascots, and getting thrown in kiddy prison, there was only so much a chosen could take before he ran out of oomph.

"So, where'd you get caught? The back alley?"

"No. In my office."

"You got inside your office?" Zelos perked up and raised an eyebrow. "How'd you do that?"

"I'm the president of the Lezareno Company and as such, I know the layout and schematics of the entire Lezareno building." Regal replied simply as he leaned back against the side of the stone wall that lined the cell. "And as a result, I am very familiar with all of the escape routes and doors that the public is not aware of. It was merely the task of locating the actual fire escapes and making use of them."

"So you got in then. You find out anything interesting that might help us out?"

"Unfortunately no. I managed to gain entry to my office, but all I was able to do was send a message to Meltokio in the hopes that someone would receive it and check my inbox on my desk."

"Well, someone did get your message after all." Zelos responded, puffing out his slim chest and flicking some of his crimson hair over his shoulder. "Sheena and I, along with some minor assistance from the Elemental Research people, got your plea."

"Oh, please." Sheena interjected annoyedly while she rested her hands on her hips like an old maid." The ERI people got the message, all you and I did was read it."

"Eh, same difference."

"So, have you heard from anyone else?" Regal asked, smoothly derailing the vocal battle between summoner and swordsman before it resulted in another boot to Zelos' head. "Besides the message I sent out, my contact with the others, save Presea, has been compromised."

"Yeah. I've got Colette on line one." Zelos pulled one of the comlinks from his pocket and showed it to Regal. "She's off with Yuan and the renegades right now, keeping them company."

Regal paused and stared at Zelos, the glint of the sparkly pink cuffs shimmering in the dim light of the cell room.

"Weren't the renegades the people who made us scatter in the first place?"

"Yeah, pretty much." The acute acolyte nodded as he stashed the comlink back into his pocket and patted it to make sure it was safely inside. "Colette and I figured it'd be smart if she kept an eye on Yuan and his shenanigans so she could tip us off if he pulled anything. It's better to be prepared."

"... for some odd reason, I fear more for Yuan's safety than I do for Colette's."

"You and me both, man."

"What about Lloyd, Genis and Raine?"

"I haven't heard a peep from the brat and her highness yet, so they're still MIA, but Bud's just peachy." The tiny chosen smirked and retrieved another comlink from his pocket. Regal seemed relieved with the news that at least some of their other friends had been found, though he was detained in a cell with two of them, and blew some of his hair out of his eyes.

"Is he with you in the city?" The former convict then asked curiously, tilting his head over near the corner of the high window in an effort to see out of it. He was just tall enough to be able to see out of the window, yet not tall enough to actually get a good look.

"Nope, he's out in Sybak following the old man around." Zelos yawned again, twirling a piece of his scarlet tresses around one of his fingers.

"... 'old man'?"

"Kratos. You know, auburn spiky hair, pale as a ghost in a snowstorm, cranky as hell, stiff and acts like he knows everything, angel of death and lapdog of Cruxis. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"And Lloyd is.. following him closely?"

"Yep." Zelos nodded, scratching the side of his temple. "See, Lloyd got lost in the woods and he got found by Kratos, who proceeded to take him along, for Martel knows why. So, since Lloyd's kinda the size of a pewit right now and can't travel by himself, he's tailing Kratos all over Tethe'alla, trying to figure out what the hell the old guy's doing in the process. The plan is Lloyd spying on him will give us the edge on Cruxis, but I gotta tell ya, it's kinda freaky to think about one of the strongest lackeys in all of Cruxis is just inches away from skewering him if he so much as blinks funny."

While Zelos knew there wasn't a chance in Niflheim that Kratos would even think of harming Lloyd, due to their actual familial relationship, the others didn't have a clue, so he had to keep up his act as long as possible so no one caught on. In their eyes, Kratos wasn't to be trusted and rightfully so, as he'd deceived them the entire time he'd been traveling along with them. To top it off, if they realized that Zelos had hidden information about Kratos from them, they'd place him on their distrust list in less than three seconds. Anyone who was associated with Cruxis couldn't be trusted, and if there was a slight exception to be made, the person underwent enormous amounts of scrutiny before even a glimmer of trust was issued.

Even Lloyd, one of the most trusting people on the planet who Zelos guessed still secretly liked Kratos, even though he'd betrayed them before, didn't completely trust the seraph out of concern for his friends welfare.

Or at least.. Zelos hoped he didn't.

Snorting tersely, the shrimpy swordsman shook himself from his stupor, some of his scarlet tresses cascading into his face. Why should he care if Lloyd trusted Kratos or not? That was Lloyd's business and to be honest, it had nothing to do with him. Besides, he didn't exactly have much room to talk. Since the very day he'd laid eyes on Lloyd and his ragtag band, he'd been doing the same thing Kratos had... well, kind of. He wasn't exactly in the employ of Cruxis like Kratos per say, but to say he wasn't collaborating with them on the side would have been a flat out lie.

Zelos rarely worked, but even when he did, he only worked if it suited him. He could have cared less what Cruxis was up to or what they wanted as the means to an end. He was in it for himself and his own release from the title of Chosen, no more, no less. All he wanted was a fun, carefree life and helping out Cruxis and the Renegades from the inside was the best way for him to get it. But for some reason, a reason he couldn't quite understand, Lloyd was starting to grow on him, sort of like a chipper, red clad fungus...

.. and he was starting to feel guilty.

'Don't tell me... I'm actually getting fond of that hotheaded moron.' The redheaded chosen exhaled incredulously as he folded his arms against his chest, overwhelmed by the mere thought.

If Lloyd and the others found out the truth, sure they'd be furious him, he had figured that much, but nothing they could do would even come close to what Kratos would do to him if he let slip that the ancient seraphim was actually Lloyd's father. He didn't think his newfound childlike stature would deter Kratos' wrath for long either. Unlike Lloyd, he didn't seem the type to freely dole out mercy on a whim. Zelos wasn't a limp noodle by any means, but if anyone could tear him apart like tissue paper, it was that guy. So, staying out of his way and on his good side was also in Zelos' prime interest if he wanted to stay in one piece. And, the only way to really stay on what good side Kratos possessed was to do all he could to make sure Lloyd stayed out of harms way to the best of his ability. For a guy who'd only recently discovered he still had a kid, he sure was protective.

Though, Zelos could understand that well enough. Part of the reason he was running around working for three separate sides at once was due to the chance that upon his release of the chosen status, his little sister, Seles would become the chosen instead and they'd finally let her out of the abbey where she was under house arrest. It wasn't the whole reason, just part of it.

'Perhaps.. this is sorta the same thing.' The lilliputian chosen murmured, 'Doin' stuff you wouldn't do for someone else...' Biting back a hollow laugh, Zelos instead shook his head and shrugged lazily.

'Nah, I'm just making myself sound all noble and stuff. I'm just a lazy dude wanting a free ride. That's all there is to it.'

He couldn't be that noble if he tried. It just wasn't in his character. He had a job to do and if that was to badmouth Kratos whenever he came up in conversation, so be it. He didn't dislike insulting the elder angel whenever he got the chance, in fact he had a good amount of fun with it, but between badmouthing him or potentially blowing his 'evil angel of death' cover with Lloyd and his friends, the flighty chosen didn't need to think much over which one Kratos would have been more likely to explode.

So, badmouthing it was. Though, Regal and Sheena seemed to buy it for the time being. That was good at least.

"It's unnerving that so powerful an enemy has procured one of our companions indeed." Regal mused, his sparkling handcuffs glinting against the light each time he moved them. "However, I suppose a bad situation can be turned on its head if handled properly." Zelos nodded absently to Regal, his eyes still transfixed on the handcuffs.

"Dude, I gotta ask." The sarcastic small fry pointed to the cuffs with his left index finger, has his right hand was clutching his stomach, trying to suppress a roar of laughter that begged to escape. "What's with the girly cuffs?"

"I was short on funds at the time after I used the larger portion of my gald to purchase clothes suitable for myself and Presea, and these were the only ones that fit." The petite president replied stiffly, standing up straight and in a dignified manner, though the cuffs greatly took away from the effect.

"But they're... pink and sparkly."

"ANYWAY, I am pleased to see that my message went through." Regal sharply interjected, the flush in his face indicating he was not liking the direction the conversation had turned. "I was unsure if it would because the mainline communication links have been malfunctioning ever since that odd earthquake."

"So that's been affecting the communications in Altamira too." Sheena frowned from her perch on the lone bench in the cell, a petrified wooden creation that had more splinters than actual seating space. "But on the grand scheme of things, you couldn't find any information regarding our new bodies?"

"Nothing. I tried gaining access to the Archives, but when caught, no one would listen to me. Apparently the story of an eleven year old boy as the president of one of the most powerful companies in Tethe'alla was one that no one dared to swallow."

"What about that old fart, George?" Zelos asked, now splayed on the floor of the cell with his arms in the air. "He's known you since you were a kid, right? I know that's when people were still fueling machines with coal, but still, shouldn't he have recognized you?"

"I thought of that as well." Regal replied stiffly, ignoring the barrage of old jokes hurled his way yet again. "However, George took some vacation time and won't be back until the beginning of the next season."

"When's that?"

"Three weeks from now."

"WHAT?" Zelos sat up like he'd been shot at and Sheena practically fell off her bench in shock. "You mean we're gonna be stuck in here for that long?"

"Probably not, but I cannot tell the future." The blue haired boy sighed tiredly as he went back to leaning against the side of the cell. "All we can do now is wait." Zelos snorted and collapsed back on the musty floor with a flump. Things were just not going his way. He was a kid, in jail and as the cherry on the sundae, he could be stuck in their for close to three weeks. Letting out a pained groan, the aggravated acolyte flipped over onto his stomach and stared at Regal, who now looked three times taller than he actually was.

"By the way, you mentioned an 'Inbox' before and you looked in it. You find anything?" Zelos asked, hoping he'd get more than a 'no, nothing except shipment papers and prison bail notices.' Though, instead of what he had expected, Regal nodded once and undid the flap of the pocket on the side of his olive green pants.

"Actually, I did." The puny president nodded, reaching a hand into the large cargo pocket on the side of his pants and pulling out a star shaped bottle with thick purple liquid sloshing inside. "I received a sample of the new cologne that the Lezareno company has begun producing. Though, I have no use for it. I do not use anything other than what I already use, so there is little point for me to keep it." Zelos eyed the clear glass bottle in the shape of a star that Regal held in his hand for a moment, flipped a stray piece of hair out of his face and looked at the bottle again.

"I'll take it if you don't want it." The chosen nonchalantly offered, his fingers twirled in his hair. Glancing at the bottle in his cuffed hand, Regal shrugged and tossed it over to the lackadaisical chosen, who caught it with his coat.

"If you wish, Chosen. I don't see why not. I wasn't planning on using it. I suppose there's no sense in letting it go to waste."

"'Eau de Romance' huh?" The smug chosen read the loopy purple writing on the label and pocketed it inside his right trench coat pocket. "Sounds promising. This'll work just fine."

"Hey, I didn't know you use man perfume." Sheena jumped down from her bench, her puff of raven hair as unruly as ever, and cocked an eyebrow at him. "What do you need it for?" Gazing over his shoulder at her, Zelos sighed, shook his head and gave her a pitying look and pulled out the bottle again.

"It's 'cologne', you country bumblebee, and it's not for me. It's for Bud." The redheaded chosen retorted, his fingers still clutching the smooth surface of the fragrance sample. "He was asking me on how to be more popular with the ladies, so I told him I'd give him some pointers."

"You stupid chosen, don't you dare pervert him so he turns into something like you!" Sheena snarled while she pointed an accusing finger at Zelos.

"'Something like me'? Yeesh, I think you reached a new level in harsh, Hun Bun."

"Don't call me 'Hun Bun'!"

"If you too are done squabbling, perhaps it would be wise to think of how to escape this place sometime this millennia." Regal interjected flatly, his thick cornflower blue eyebrows set in an impatient frown. Snorting, the redheaded acolyte glanced over at Regal, looking thoroughly put out.

"Oh alright. Think think think... what would work.." Staving off a comeback that he had prepared, Zelos frowned himself and began to think, his chin perched on his fist.

"What about squeezing through the bars?" He finally suggested, gesturing to the metal bars of their cell that stood between them and freedom.

"That's no good. The engineers designed them tightly spaced for that reason." Regal shot down the plan tiredly. Groaning, Zelos flumped against the bars and let his neck go limp, his head falling backwards into the metal poles in the process. As he stood there with his neck like an accordion, a glint of light caught his eye and Zelos locked his sights on a convenient, albeit small, window of opportunity.

"Through the window?" He asked, pointing to the window with a flick of his pink clad arm. Sheena glanced up at where the small scale swordsman had indicated, squinted her eyes and shook her head.

"Bars there too and if if there weren't any, we couldn't reach, not even if we stood on Regal's shoulders."

'Then you come with something. Yeesh.' Zelos sighed exhaustedly in his head. Why did he have to come up with all the ideas? He knew he was brilliant, but come on. Now they found Regal, he should at least have been given a break from thinking for a while or something. Though, from the glare he was getting from Sheena, a break didn't look like it was going to show up any time soon.

'It's hard being one of the only smart people around here.'

"What if we bust the bars?" The childish casanova suggested lazily, whacking the bars behind him with a motion of his hand. "Let's just have Pops break them and then we'll-"

"I'm a tad young to be 'Pops' and I do not wish to break the bars if it can be avoided." Regal replied curtly. Zelos raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why? They take away your exsphere?"

"No, I still have it."

"Then why?"

"Do you know how much those bars cost to install? It was quite pricey and I would like to keep them in one piece, thank you."

Zelos stared at him.

"... you've gotta be kidding me-"

"Hey, what are you doing? You can't go back there- YEAARGGGHHH!" All three children went silent when sounds of scuffling feet and angry shouts began to echo through the room just outside their holding chamber. Each of them waited on bated breath, not daring to make a sound as the shouting, screaming and flailing kept getting louder, until it suddenly stopped. Pregnant silence cascaded into the room, drenching them all with anxiety and Zelos felt his heart jump into his throat as the wooden door that led from their room to the hallway creaked open. However, instead of the impending angel attack or maybe just a horde of wild baboons that he'd been expecting in the doorway, walked in a very young girl of no more than nine. She wore a crisp white sailor dress with black buttons, black trim around the edges of the short sleeves and hem, a black bow in the center of her chest, successfully covering up what looked like the tips to a gold throat ornament under her clothes. Black patent leather mary jane shoes, white knee socks, matching beret, and black roses on her bubblegum pink pigtails completed her outfit, though the gigantic axe she held in her hands was slightly off putting.

"Presea!"

"It is good to see you all again." Presea greeted cordially, or as cordially as she could manage. The effects of her soul loss were still affecting her and she'd yet to regain all of her emotional capabilities, though she'd made great strides in improvement from when they first had met. Striding to the door, she pulled out a large ring of keys, that strangely had what looked like crimson liquid dripping from the ring, and unlocked the door to their cell so it swung open.

"Please hurry, I have come to rescue you."

* * *

Wiping some oil from his face, Lloyd worked like clockwork on each bolt, tightening them so well that not even another earthquake could jolt them loose. He'd been refastening them for longer than he could count, or maybe it just felt like an eternity. After all, once the rest of his brain had rejoined him from its vacation thanks to Pronyma and her titanium hand, and he'd registered exactly what had just transpired, time felt like it had screeched to a halt for the world's longest pit stop.

When he'd asked Kratos exactly what the chart had meant when it was 'blue', Lloyd didn't exactly get the response he'd been hoping for. Instead of being all knowing and kinda pompous like he usually was, all Kratos did was stare at him like he was crazy. Since Kratos worked with several of the most deranged life forms Lloyd had ever set eyes on, it wasn't very settling when the seraph asked if he was feeling light headed and examined his pupils to make sure they were the same size. Snorting, the grease stained squirt cleaned some sweat and oil off his forehead, the pale skin under his black tank top soaked with perspiration.

After he'd convinced the angelic lord that he didn't have a concussion, Lloyd had then explained what he'd meant by asking what 'blue' was on the race recognition charts, but that had only made things worse. The further Lloyd went with his story about being caught at the orphanage and dragged to the genetic testing building thing, the darker the glint in Kratos' eyes had become. It got even worse when he mentioned the part about the intern telling him about being able to figure out how his parents were. If that leak hadn't shown back up and soaked the floor, Lloyd wasn't sure what he would have done, though from the way he was strangling the wrench, anything could've been possible.

'What's he so pissed about?' The short swordsman rolled his eyes, his grip slipping on the slender wrench. 'It's not like he woke up to find out that one of the lapdogs of Cruxis had adopted him. If anyone has the right to be upset, that'd be me, thanks.' He was still pretty rattled about that, as would anyone really, but he kept getting a hole in the pit of his stomach as he began to think about what would happen because of his newfound adoption predicament.

What if his friends got hurt again because of him? What if he got used as leverage to get his friends to surrender?

... what was his dad going to think?

He knew he'd have to go back to Sylvarant sooner or later, and what would Dirk think when he found out that Lloyd had inadvertently been adopted by someone else, and an enemy to boot? Whether or not Lloyd really got the aura of him being an enemy wasn't important. The fact was now someone else had custody of him and what if Dirk thought he was being replaced?

'No way, I'd never do that.' The tiny tot shook his head vehemently, 'Dad is Dad. Family's family, regardless of blood.' He wasn't going to replace Dirk. He was Dad, that meant he was family and he wasn't about to go abandoning anybody. Not Dad, not Colette, not the world.

However, he had other things to worry about first. For starters, the most pressing objectives on Lloyd's plate were how to change back into a teenager, how to find the other two friends that had gone missing, and how to figure out how to appease Kratos, who looked ready to commit murder. Lloyd wasn't sure exactly what he was livid at, but it was either the machine he was battling with at that moment or the kid perched on the top of it. Though, from what he said and how Kratos had acted afterward led him to believe it wasn't the machine he was trying to fix.

He had still been rather groggy when he'd asked since Kratos had adopted him, was like his dad or something like it, but then Kratos had taken the wrong way and he guessed he'd struck a nerve, because the angelic lord became stiffer than usual and had barely said a word since. He knew Kratos was fairly sensitive about his age, but it was just an innocent question. Lloyd hadn't been implying Kratos was old. He was just curious if the master swordsman had signed to take on all the jobs that Dirk already had, that was all. It's not like Lloyd thought he actually WAS or anything like that, he was just curious if that's what the whole adoption thing meant. For someone who prided themselves as being stoic, he shouldn't have taken it so personally.

'Why'd he get all cranky about that anyway?' Lloyd muttered to himself, shifting the wrench to another bolt and tightening it. 'I only asked a question. It's not like I really am or...'

That's when it dawned on him.

The locket. The one that Kratos had been wearing during the initial journey of regeneration. The one that had gotten broken and Lloyd had almost looked in, before Kratos snatched it away and stalked off without another word. Almost dropping the wrench, the slender boy perched on the top of the magitech machine groaned, his eyes wide. Lloyd had even fixed the broken chain, how could he have been so idiotic as to forget?

Kratos had had a family at one point, hadn't he? Once when both he and Kratos had been alone, the angelic swordsman had mentioned he'd had a wife and kid a long time ago, but they'd been killed by desians and he had been unable to protect them. That's why he'd gone to a life as a mercenary. But that had been just a cover, right? A lie fabricated by Cruxis' top killing machine in order to maintain his status as a wandering sell sword.

But... from the way he'd spoken when they had talked briefly about it, Lloyd didn't think in his heart that had been a lie. No one was that good an actor, not even Kratos.

Lloyd shoulders slumped. If the story had been true, which he was guessing now had to be, he'd just reopened a deep flaring wound that probably drove itself right into the elder seraphim, who was at that point in a fierce argument with the machine's rigging. No wonder Kratos had grown so deathly silent when Lloyd had been telling him about the tests and paled slightly when Lloyd held up the red gauze bandage he'd received from the night before to add to his tale. At first, the minute twin swordsman thought he'd been a bit unsettled by the sight of a bandaged wound, but this was Kratos, not Genis. He'd seen tons of blood and guts over his life span, so the second explanation had made a lot more sense.

'I wonder if they were killed in a raid... or maybe they were sent to one of the ranches first.' Lloyd thought guiltily, his hands still riveting the bolts down snugly against the metal plating. 'And maybe.. they got experimented on. The bandage I had might've reminded him of something like that. The kid probably wouldn't have lasted long there. A week, maybe two. Then his wife would've...'

Lloyd felt horrible. Kratos had gone to all of the trouble of rescuing him from that dismal hell hole, especially after all he had said, and how did he repay him? Remind him of years of suffering that he endured alone and probably blamed himself for. Groaning, Lloyd ran his left hand down the side of his face and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation at himself. If it had been in that position, he would have blamed himself for it, he already did with Marble, and he'd only known her for a day. That was Kratos' family and they were both gone... and Lloyd had been dumb enough to bring the whole thing up again with his 'are you like my dad now?' comment. Smooth move.

Though, one thing stood out in his mind, jumping up and down like Genis when he'd eaten seven cookies in one sitting. If Kratos' family had been killed by desians, why the hell was he working for Cruxis, the evil organization responsible as the puppeteers of the desians? And better yet, why was his family killed by the desians in the first place?

'You'd think there'd be professional courtesy or something like that.' Lloyd shook his head and brushed the rogue strand of hair out of his face, which was soaked with oil and grime. It didn't make a good amount of sense that Cruxis would attack one of their own.. unless he perhaps did something that they didn't like too much.

'I wonder what he did. Did he steal something or... perhaps blow up a ranch?' The suspicious six year old deduced, his hands starting to slip on the slick metal of his wrench. 'Come to think of it, I only heard about four ranches in Sylvarant. Aren't there Five Grand Cardinals?'

'I bet he blew up Pronyma's ranch. That has to be it.' Lloyd nodded to himself and smirked as he worked. 'That's why she doesn't have a ranch and is always so sour looking all the time. And here I thought it was just because she didn't have pants.' The confused kid frowned, rubbed the side of his cheek and stole a quick glance at the angelic swordsman before he turned his attention back to his work once more.

'I'd ask him, but I don't want to test his mercy meter.' He thought as he readjusted his grip on the wrench. 'I got lucky because he got me out and didn't skewer me on sight in the process for what I said. I'm not pushing it.

All that thought about people dying and ranches rounded him back towards himself and what he'd learned at the genetic testing facility thing. He'd forgotten it when he'd been in the Orphanage, due to the panic setting in, but Lloyd had remembered something distinctive that the intern had said while he'd been struggling against the straps on the table.

'_"One side isn't even in our computer database and the other, well... that lineage died out a really long time ago."_

''Died out a really long time ago'? What the heck does that mean?' Lloyd glared at his reflection in the shiny surface of the machine. That had to be a mistake. If that was true, how the heck could he be alive in the first place? He could see someone slipping through the cracks by mistake, but dying out a long time ago didn't sound like something someone could just avoid by cleverness and a hint of luck.

Though... what if he hadn't avoided death? What if... the charts were right?

The desians could get their hands on just about anything they wanted, Lloyd knew that, but did anything really mean ANYTHING?

Like... old people Dye-oksi-rye-bow... er.. gene stuff that the intern mentioned from a really, REALLY long time ago?

Lloyd swallowed hard and his insides curdled.

He knew that Dad had found him and his mom near the cliff near the ranch, but what had she been doing there in the first place? He didn't know much about his mom's family, nor did Dirk, and his mom hadn't been able to go into much detail before she died, so.. was there more to the whole ranch experience than he realized?

What if... what if the scientists at the ranch used ancient genes as a side project while his mother was still in the Asgard Ranch and it was her genes that had been warped enough so it looked like she'd been part of a family who'd died out a long time ago? Kvar was just that sick and twisted, so it was a viable enough theory. Nothing could've been put past that guy. Was his weird test results a product of a side experiment from when his mom had been at the ranch?

No, that didn't seem right. If that had been the case, Kvar would have added that to his 'inferior being' spiel, just for the added effect of tearing Lloyd's emotional psyche apart even more. Damn bastard.

'Maybe it was my dad was a lot older then.' Lloyd mused, throwing his previous theory out the window, 'But, how old would he be to be part of a lineage that was supposed to have died out a long time ago? What, like a hundred?' Lloyd snorted. There was no way his dad would be a hundred... unless..

.. he couldn't have been a half elf.. could he?

That would make sense enough. After all, that would fit the age part, because half elves could live to be really old like full blooded elves and if he was part of a fancy family, chances were pretty good they wouldn't register him if he was a half elf. Either way, he could fit either of the choices on the chart's results. But, hadn't Kvar said that his father had been a human too? And besides, his chart didn't come anywhere close to that of a half elf. His results were blue, not orange.

'Gah, so confusing.' Lloyd rubbed his temples in agony, smearing his face with more oil in the process. There were so many questions swirling in the shrimpy swordsman's brain all at once, it'd made his vision blurry and his head hurt. To make matters worse, the only person nearby who might've had any clue as to what the chart's color meant was silently furious with him and he'd caused it with his own idiocy.

Lloyd hadn't meant to be so insensitive, it had been an accident. In his defense, he was still out of it at the time, but in the end, Kratos was livid, Lloyd once again dug his own grave with his mouth and he still didn't know what 'blue' meant.

This just wasn't his week and a half and, from what the trends were, it didn't look like it was going to get better any time soon.

'Oh, hell with it. I'll just ask Kate next time I see her and find out that way-'

"Lloyd."

Lloyd jolted out of his thoughts and practically into the air when the deep voice of Kratos met his ears and sent his heart into another city. His eyes shot to Kratos, who had stood up without him noticing, almost gave him a heart attack in the process, and in his startled state, he forgot how to breathe.

"I'm tightening, I'm tightening!" the pewit of a boy squalled rapidly, speeding up his work as much as he could and not wanting to anger him further. Instead of looking somewhat satisfied, Kratos merely shook his head at the boy and set down his box of tools on the bench in the far back of the laboratory.

"It's already tightened as much as it will be." The angelic swordmaster replied smoothly as he picked up a spare rag from the side, took off his glasses and removed the grime from his face. "Besides, you're trying to rivet a button."

Lloyd blinked and looked down. Sure enough, staring back at him was a raised golden button with some strange language he didn't recognize written just above it in bold etched letters. And here he'd been trying to tighten it for a good fifteen minutes.

"... oh... right, I knew that." The sheepish six year old murmured, his eyes still locked on the weird writing. Though, upon further inspection, Lloyd realized that it wasn't just over the top of the button that the writing appeared. As Kratos had cleaned off the majority of the oil, grime and muck from the surface, the small scale swordsman saw that most of the machine was covered in the same loopy writing, which circled around the bulbous contraption in spirals. From a ways away, it looked downright beautiful. Up close, all it did was make Lloyd's brain wail in agony.

Groaning, the shrimpy six year old gingerly climbed down from his perch and snagged the cloth Kratos offered him for his face and hands. While Kratos had dealt with the majority of the oil and grease due to gravity and his position at the time, Lloyd had his fair share of messes as well, the grime and oil on his face practically masking his petite features.

Once he was free from the oil stains, Lloyd glanced up to see Kratos had finished up polishing the slick plating on the humongous creation, which revealed a shimmery golden finish that sparkled in the dim light of the cramped laboratory. The machine itself was quite a work of art, the gold plating emphasizing the detail and care in its creation every inch Lloyd looked. Whistling at it, the tiny boy strode forward, taking in every detailed mark he could. Everything about it was phenomenal, that much was evident, but one thing in particular stood out about the machine, just beckoning Lloyd to lean in for a better look. Tall, very neat lettering, much larger than the rest of the embossment, graced the surface just above what looked to be the control panel, their delicate loops hand carved into the panels of the machine. Tilting his head to the side out of curiosity, he reached out and poked the enlarged print with the flat of his fingerpad.

"What's this?" Lloyd asked, jabbing his slender finger on the larger loopy etched script on the surface of the machine.

"Those are instructions on how to operate the adamantite converter." Kratos replied simply as he set down the rag he'd been using to rid himself of the machine's fluids. Raising an eyebrow at the aloof angel, Lloyd leaned in and squinted at the writing while he tried making heads or tails of it.

"What's it say? Something about when the moon is full, move it somewhere counter clockwise three times and use the almighty powers of Cruxis to-"

"Push the button."

Lloyd stared at him.

"What?"

"That's what it says. 'Push the button.'"

"Seriously? Then why's there a bunch of loopy writing?"

"Because that is how it is communicated in the language of the angels."

Lloyd snorted. He'd been hoping for something a little more exhilarating than 'push the button'. Whoever was in charge of the instruction manual when this thing was originally built obviously had the imagination of a tree stump. A tree stump who could emboss like nobody's business, but a tree stump nonetheless.

"Man, all that loopy build up and then nothing. Talk about a let down." He sighed exasperatedly as he let his hand slide down the cool front quarter panel, all his energetic enthusiasm long gone from his voice. Unbeknownst to Lloyd, Kratos glanced down at his young charge, sighed and rolled his eyes at the boy's sudden lack of excitement.

"If you're done commentating, stand back while I initiate the opening sequence in case it backfires and explodes." The antiquated swordmaster told Lloyd curtly as he pressed a series of keys on the side control panel, which triggered the magitechnology to flash brightly colored lights from underneath its gold-leafed shell. Lloyd tore his eyes away from where he had been inspecting, shifted his gaze over to Kratos and raised an eyebrow at him, his eyes wracked with bewilderment.

"... you're joking, right?" The pewit of a powerhouse asked incredulously, hoping that Kratos had been just kidding. However, the flat expression he got from the older angel dashed any of those hopes on the rocks of reality. Swallowing hard, Lloyd scrambled back from where he'd been standing and ducked behind the oaken desk in the middle of the room. The last thing he wanted was to get caught in that crossfire, as being hit by burning scrap metal and shrapnel didn't sound like much fun.

After a minute or two of hiding behind his wooden fort, Lloyd's curiosity once again got the better of him and he peeked his eyes over the surface of the desk just in time to see Kratos take something wrapped in brown paper out of his pocket and unravel it. From what Lloyd could see, whatever it was in Kratos' hand was clear, crisp and hard like a rock.

"What's that?" Lloyd asked, his cherrywood irises fixated on the stone Kratos held, the light refracting off it's surface. Kratos didn't turn back or even look at Lloyd, but instead strode to the machine, opened a slot on the side rear quarter panel and slid the rock down into the belly of the age old instrument.

"Diamond." He finally replied after he shut the door to the machine, pressed the button Lloyd had scrutinized so much and moved back over to where Lloyd was crouched behind the desk.

"What're you going to do with that?" The younger of the two asked further as he crossed his arms on the desktop and rested the flat of his chin on his forearms.

"If this works, you'll see soon enough." Kratos responded quietly, folding his arms against his chest, and began to watch the swirling lights that sparkled and shone throughout the reassembled piece of magitechnology. Lloyd wasn't sure how all of this was supposed to work exactly, but Kratos wasn't rushing over to the machine and turning it off, nor was there smoke billowing out of the grate near the top of the contraption, so chances were pretty good it was working well enough. A good ten minutes passed them both by, neither saying a word, until the thick tranquility was suddenly shattered.

Most unexpectedly, it wasn't Lloyd who shattered it.

"How has your exsphere been acting as of late?" Kratos inquired offhandedly, his eyes still following the shimmering lights from the diamond eating machine.

"Huh? My exsphere?" Blinking himself out of his staring stupor, Lloyd looked at the older swordsman and his eyes shot back to the smooth stone that made itself home on his left hand.

'That came out of nowhere.' The shrunken swordsman brought up his arm with his exsphere still mounted on his hand and held it out for Kratos to see.

"It's been acting fine." He reported, feeling incredibly awkward holding his arm out like a scarecrow. Lloyd watched the elder angelic being let his eyes trail over to where he still held his arm out, briefly caught a glimpse of the polished amplifier and turned his gaze back to the whirling appliance on the other side of the room.

"You haven't been feeling anything abnormal?"

"No, not really. I felt a little funny after I left here, but other than that and turning into a kid-" Lloyd gestured up and down at himself with his once aloft arm, before he flopped it back on the tabletop. "I feel just fine."

"I see."

"Do you know anything about what's going on?"

"I have my theory, but without proper testing and research, they are nothing more than mere sophistry."

"Great." Lloyd sighed and leaned the side of his boyish head into his palm as a support. "And here I was hoping you'd know what the heck was going on with those charts." Pausing slightly, the angelic lord raised an eyebrow and glanced back over at Lloyd, who matched his eyebrow like a mirror.

"What made you think I'd know about how to interpret data?"

"I dunno, you just know a lot of info about useless, old stuff." Lloyd propped himself up with his elbows and shrugged.

"... how eloquent."

"'Elephant'?"

"No. Eloquent, as in well spoken, well phrased or in some cases, witty."

"Oh, thank you."

"... That was sarcasm, Lloyd."

Both seraph and six year old were, however, interrupted by a dinging sound like the windup timer the Professor used whenever she tested her students to signify the test was over. Lloyd shuddered. Too many bad memories went along with the sound of that timer and it was all he could do to keep from visibly cringing and ducking under the desk for protection from yet another atrocious test score. Kratos, meanwhile, didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest.

"Good, it worked." He commented, hints of relief in his voice, albeit small, strode to the machine, unlocked the hatch that he'd placed the diamond and pulled out the stone that sparkled once it hit the light of the dim lamp on the ceiling.

It was still as pretty as before, but from where Lloyd stood, it looked exactly the same.

"So you put diamond in and got what exactly?" The tiny boy asked, his eyebrow raised while he wondered what the point of the whole process had been.

"The machine processed the diamond with the right amount of heat and pressure, which created adamantite." Kratos replied curtly while he inspected both the edges of the mound of carbon with a jeweler's magnifying glass.

Lloyd wrinkled his nose. He'd briefly heard something mentioned about that stuff when he'd been at home, about how it was used as crafting and sharpening tools, but that was about it. Dad hadn't gone into a ton of details, as he didn't think to ask, so gathering up his bundle of curiosity, Lloyd craned his neck over at the shiny diamond creation and raised an eyebrow.

"What's adamantite?" The investigative first grader piped while he narrowed his eyes on the sample of 'whatever it was-ite' that Kratos examined.

"It's a very strong alloy that I need." The age old angel replied, his gaze still fixed on his creation.

"What do you need it for?"

"Things."

"What kind of things?"

"... Personal things."

"Personal things like what-"

"Do you want to see it or not?" Kratos interjected curtly, holding the rock slightly aloft so the incredibly nosy boy could see from where he sat, though he hadn't looked in Lloyd's direction.

"Sure!" Eager to see what it was up close, Lloyd bounded up from where he'd been kneeling and trotted across the room, his previous line of intrusive questioning long forgotten. Once over, Kratos gently handed the weighty carbon creation into Lloyd's pint sized palms, which the slim boy had to cup together in order to support. He then craned his neck in so his nose was maybe an inch away from the adamantite and stared at it.

"It sure is shiny." Lloyd's eyes filled with the glossy glow of the gem. "What's the difference between this stuff and diamond? It looks the same to me."

"Adamantite is a more refined version of diamond." Kratos explained as he walked over to the blueprint covered desk and rolled up the plans he'd used to repair the machine with. "It is tougher, harder, and more resistant than standard diamond, plus it's sheen is brighter when it hits the light in the proper angle."

"Wow, it's all that, huh?" The shrimpy six year old shifted the rock back and forth, fascinated with the way the light fragments danced about and refracted to create rainbows of colors and grinned smugly.

"... shiny."

"Lloyd, stop fiddling with the adamantite too much." Kratos chastised exasperatedly, having finished rolling the last blueprint tightly and tied it together with twine before setting back in the corner. "If you find a jagged edge, it will cut you."

"But it's so shiny-"

"MARVELOUS!"

Lloyd froze like he'd been dumped in a river in Flanoir and locked eyes with Kratos, who'd also ceased moving. He then looked back at Lloyd briefly, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Judging from the way he'd reacted, he, like Lloyd, had figured out what had happened, not that it taken much to recognize. It had been a while since Lloyd had heard that word spoken with such ecstatic and absolutely crazed enthusiasm, but there was no mistaking it.

Not a chance in the world could he have mistook it.

Not even if he'd wanted to.

Which he did.

"... oh no." Turning slowly like he was on a vertical spit, Lloyd circled around so he faced the opposite wall and suddenly wished he was back behind the desk.

Just in front of the still sparkling machine stood Raine, orange poncho and all, hands spread out like an eagle taking flight. Eyes brimming with lunacy and a demented grin plastered on her youthful face, the ecstatic eight year old's gaze shifting all over the shimmering device more than Colette's would at a puppy convention. Judging from how her hair stood out more than usual, the stunted schoolteacher had apparently just woken up, but from the manic gleam in her eye, any grogginess she might've had been shoved off the cliff of her mind, which didn't make Lloyd feel any better.

Even as an third grader in a poncho, she was terrifying.

"What is this beautiful contraption? Is this magitechnology?" Raine demanded, caressing the flat metal paneling of the converter with the flat of her palm. Lloyd's eyes shot to Kratos and rapidly began waving his arms up and down in his best effort to stave off Kratos' answering her. After all, he was still trying to garner information from Kratos about Cruxis and what the heck he was up, and he couldn't exactly get the information he needed if Kratos was torn to shreds by his certifiably deranged teacher.

"It's an adamantite processing unit." Kratos replied shortly, ignoring Lloyd's panicked expression and his arms like he was trying to take flight. Lloyd gaped at him. Had he really been gone so long that he could have forgotten how crazed Raine got whenever she was around ruins or anything related to the ancient war, or did he not care that she was assailing the machine he'd spent hours repairing?

Meanwhile, Raine didn't seem to notice Lloyd's antics. She was too busy mauling the converter.

"Look how it sparkles in the light! And feel this fantastically smooth surface, it's sensational!" Raine cooed, tracing the lights over and over with her fingers as they blinked and flashed.

"Why didn't I spot this before?" Like it was on springs, the puny professor's head shot towards the still flailing swordsman and she glared, her gaze silently demanding Lloyd tell her what she needed to know, lest he suffer the consequences.

Years of enduring the classic 'teacher glare' hadn't taught Lloyd much, but what it had taught him was that if he didn't tell her exactly what she wanted to know, he was going to pay for it and he really didn't want to get pounded right in front of Kratos. He'd already endured the humiliation of getting bathed by an enemy. The last thing he wanted was to get punished by his now spazzing eight year old teacher who was right in the middle of one of her ruin moments.

So, out of preservation's sake, he took a step back and pointed to Kratos.

"It was broken and in pieces, but Kratos fixed it-"

"YOU repaired this?" Raine gasped in shock and before Lloyd could register exactly what was going on, his nutball of a teacher had launched herself into midair, landed squarely on Kratos' shoulders and clung to the folds of his shirt, her heels planted firmly in his clavicles.

"How did you do it? What did you use? I MUST KNOW! TELL ME!" The hysterical half elf bellowed shrilly, nose to nose with Kratos while her manic steel blue eyes bored a hole into his deadpan cherry pair.

Instead of looking utterly perturbed by her insane behavior like Lloyd, whose jaw had dropped to the floor and his eyebrows to the roof in horrified shock, Kratos merely glared back at her and firmly gripped her wrists.

"I read the blueprints and put it back together." The acerbic angel responded flatly while he pried her crab-like claws from his person and held her out at arm's length.

"Now kindly get off me." With that, he unceremoniously released her wrists and Raine plummeted to the floor with a dull thud. Lloyd cringed when the sound of his teacher hitting the surface of the concrete floor echoed in his ears, as it sounded like it hurt, but in all fairness, he didn't blame Kratos at all. He would have probably done the same thing in that situation, granted he had a running head start for once the Professor rebounded.

"This is too good an opportunity to let pass me by. I simply must examine this further!" The erratic eight year old bounded up from the floor and rushed over to the unit, the fact that she'd just been dumped on the ground not bothering her in the slightest. "How do you work, my precious, gorgeous, magnificent sample of magitechnology? Show me what you can do, show me.."

Lloyd gawked at the disturbing display of the Professor caressing the apparatus in horror for at least three minutes before he glanced up at Kratos, who had folded his arms against his chest and had joined him in watching her. Grimacing, Lloyd shifted his gaze back away from Kratos again so it rested on his fanatical teacher, who showed no signs of letting up.

"Kratos... she's drooling on it."

"Mm."

"She's gonna take it apart."

"So it would seem."

"Are we gonna stop her?"

"As I promised to give the machine to the academy after I'm done with it, yes." Kratos nodded, his arms still resting against his chest in a fold. "Take one end and I shall take the other. That seems to be the only way possible to pry her from the adamantite converter." Lloyd looked at Kratos, then at the Professor, back to Kratos and raised one of his tapered chestnut eyebrows.

"Alright, but I don't want the end with the teeth." Lloyd readjusted his black tank top, turned on his heel and marched towards the converter and the deranged half elf petting it. Kratos snorted, but nonetheless followed after Lloyd towards the converter, his shirt still indented with the impression of ten slender fingers. Noticing the sudden sound of encroaching footsteps, Raine peered over her shoulder, wheeled around and spread out protectively in front of the converter, clinging to it with all she had.

"NOOO, I'M NOT DONE YET!

* * *

'How long is she going to keep me waiting?' Yuan griped as he sat in his desk chair, his fingers drumming on the smooth surface of his desktop. 'I've managed to finish all the work I had before she left and that was no small feat. What's taking her so long?' It had been a good four hours since the miniature chosen had scampered off, apparently dead set in a mission of some sort, and to say that waiting that long was trying his patience was a bit of an understatement.

Yuan was very old, four thousand, one hundred and forty three, give or take a year, but just because he was old didn't mean he had the temperament to withstand being left on the cusp while Colette whisked herself off to do whatever popped into her cloud ridden head. Just when she'd finally agreed to stop dallying around and tell him all about Lloyd, which would help his plan to catch the boy off guard and hopefully successfully this time, she'd gotten a 'brilliant' idea into her head and wheeled off on another wild goose chase. All of this might have made sense to her, but she was the only one whom any of her random tangents made sense. At least, that was what it seemed to him.

Though, from the way the others in her fellowship regarded her sense of the world and everything else in general, perhaps he wasn't the only one who thought so.

While he sat there, Yuan whistled quietly, though he was slightly sharp, but he didn't really care. As mind numbingly bored as he was, whistling was the only thing keeping him from escaping through the hatch in the top of his office and making a beeline for the nearest establishment that served potion.

It was at times like this he really did miss the sarcastic redheaded snarker as his special mole when it came to the dealings of Lloyd. He may have been one of the most irritating beings to have ever walked either worlds, but at least he got the information on time and it usually made sense. With Colette, all he was receiving was a happy grin and the biggest migraine he'd had in at least three years.

'She may be taking her sweet time, but when did I get so impatient? I've waited thousands of years for things in the past, so why is waiting now irking me so unbelievably much?' He muttered into his hand, as his chin was perched on his palm. 'I know she's in possession of a very odd whimsical way of operating in her own little world, but I thought patience came with age. Perhaps I went against the mold on that particular aspect-'

"I'm back!"

The perky voice of the chosen trilled from the doorway, ejected Yuan from his thoughts the moment she pushed the mechanism that opened his door. His boredom actually having drained most of his energy, Yuan glanced up at her halfheartedly and stared at Colette through his side curtain of cerulean hair.

"I can see that. Now, what was it that you were so fervent on prepar..." The antiquated angelic commander lost his words as instead of the little pest he'd come to expect stood what looked like a gigantic wooden structure on wheels. The entire thing consisted of a rectangular box that had the bottom half completely surrounded by wood paneling, while the top half was merely a wooden frame with a dowel, connecting both sides together. Strung onto the dowel were several folds of multicolored fabric that fashioned crude curtains, each very lurid and so cheery he found it difficult to look at them straight on. As the contraption made its way into his office, the turncoat seraph noticed a bobbing blond head from the other side and raised an eyebrow.

"... what is that?" Yuan finally asked, not sure if he really wanted to know. Once the weird box was right in front of his desk, Colette's shot up like a mole being flushed out of his home and beamed at him.

"It's a stage." She piped jubilantly, her cheeks flushed from all the work she'd done in establishing her newfound portable performance hall.

"I can see that, but where did you get a stage?"

"The really nice guys in the engineering department made it for me."

"... you mean the men who were supposed to be fine-tuning the last calibrations on the mana cannon?"

"Yeah, that's them. They said making me a stage would be a lot more fun than working on a boring old mana cannon for some weird firework show, but I'm not supposed to tell you that."

Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose. If the people in the engineering department had time to build stages for cheery cherubs then they had time to reconstruct a weapon from the ancient war capable of destroying that infernal Tower of Salvation. Though from the looks of things, it was obviously about motivation than anything else.

'... and then I wonder why a bunch of snot nosed kids manage to foil all of my schemes... brilliant.' He added forlornly, having realized exactly how ineffectual his rebel army was becoming. Staving off his urge to groan out loud, the exasperated renegade leader turned his eyes back up to face Colette and raised one very heavy eyebrow.

"Why exactly do you have one?"

"I need it for my big explanation."

"And you need a stage for that."

"Yeah!" the bantam blonde swayed from side to side and dove behind the stage. As soon as she scrambled underneath the wooden play construct, the rustling of cloth came from under the stage, which made Yuan slightly intrigued, if only due to his wonder why there was a stage planted in his office. Out of his scientific curiosity, which was purely intellectual, he was sure, the age old angel stretched himself over his desktop and craned his neck out so he could see slightly better.

Before Yuan could realize what had happened, a flash of crimson blasted out of nowhere and hurtled straight for the center of his forehead. His heightened reflexes kicking in, Yuan shot backwards into his chair, his heart rate through the roof. Normally he wouldn't have reacted like that at all, but something red had been pitched right at his face and that was enough to send anyone into at least a mild case of hysteria.

"TA DAH!" When his eyes focused on what it had been thrust into his face, Yuan realized he was staring at an incredibly simplistic figure made out of felt and scrap fabric. While the puppet in question was very rudimentary in design, the body a cone like cylinder that had a head and arms, there was no mistaking the red outfit, the spiky brown hair, or the cherry wood felt circles that were tapered down in a determined angle.

It was Lloyd and as a hand puppet no less. Yuan watched the Lloyd puppet bounce up and down on Colette's arm and leaned in, not entirely sure he'd been seeing correctly. Sure enough, it was a puppet alright.

"... hand puppets?"

"Hand puppets." Colette nodded cheerily, her hand still covered by the Lloyd creation. She then held up a brown burlap bag with her left hand and undid the string so the sack fell open, revealing a plethora of handmade people, ranging from Lloyd and Colette herself all the way to the lady who ran the Thoda Geyser Tours and several dogs of many different shapes and colors.

"See, I've got one of almost everyone, here's Lloyd, and me, and Genis, oh, and here's the Kratos one." The tiny chosen listed off as she began to pull out each puppet one by one and place them on his desk. "Look, I've even got one for you." Reaching into the bag, the acute acolyte rummaged around and retrieved a puppet that sported a cerulean ponytail that had bangs on the right side of its face and a cape that billowed when she swayed it back and forth. She then stretched out her arm and handed the handcrafted toy to the renegade leader, who took his felt likeness and examined it with a scrutinizing eye.

'It's... it's perfect.' The age old angel stared as he turned over the puppet in his hand and lifted up the cape. 'She even got the detail from my shirt and clothes. Just how long was she working on these?'

"... it's... strangely accurate." Yuan pseudo-complimented while he flipped the ponytail back and forth between his fingers. "I see you even got the hair correct."

"Thank you. I worked really hard on it, but the only reason it turned out okay was because I used their hair."

".. you stole their ACTUAL hair?"

"No, I watched how their hair worked. I couldn't find their hairbrushes, so I used felt instead."

"But you had intended to do so before."

"It would have made their hair a lot easier." Colette nodded while she fiddled with the cape of the Kratos puppet. Yuan snorted and turned his eyes back to his own puppet.

'I don't believe Kratos has a brush, to be honest.' He commented wryly. 'Or if he does, I doubt he's ever used it.'

"Where did you get these?" Yuan had never seen puppets quite like that before and he'd never heard of a place where the main trade was felt toys.

"I made them while my friends and I were traveling around the world trying to save it."

"... you really didn't have enough to do, did you?"

"Nope, not really."

"They're.. lovely, but what does this have to do with Lloyd?"

"I'm gonna tell you all the things that happened the entire time during our trip, but with puppets."

Yuan blinked, his eyebrow raised towards the escape exit on his ceiling.

"Why?"

"Because..." Colette gently took back her Yuan puppet, snagged the bag of puppets and wandered back behind the stage, her face completely concealed with only the top of her head and her eyes showing.

"I'm s'posed to entertain you, so that's what I'm gonna do. Now then, let's get started with the show!" With that, Colette ducked underneath the and held up a piece of white poster board that had been written on with pink crayon.

"The Journey of Regeneration and then The Journey to Save the World Without Me Dying, featuring, Lloyd, and me, and Genis, and The Professor, and Mister Kratos, and Zelos and-"

"I get it." Yuan interrupted flatly, his chin already rested on his palm. He didn't need Colette or anyone else telling him to figure out that he was going to be here a while.

"Oh, okay." Colette brought down the sign and within a minute, up sprang a new and crudely colored picture of a school, along with the Lloyd, Colette and Genis puppets, which were supported by wooden dowels. Yuan snorted again.

'That's probably so she can operate more than two at one time.'

"La la la, it's a beautiful day in Iselia." The Colette puppet trilled as it bobbed up and down, the yellow felt flouncing up and down as it did in real life.

"But we have to be in school and I don't like school. It's boring." The Lloyd puppet replied grumpily, which forced Yuan to hold in a low laugh. Colette had deepened her voice so it sounded like Lloyd more or less, but in reality, it just sounded like Lloyd had swallowed helium.

"It wouldn't be boring if you didn't sleep in class, Lloyd." The Genis puppet waved from side to side. Suddenly, from of the woodwork sprang Raine, their insane teacher from Iselia, and she rapidly bounced over to the original trio, her white felt hair flapping around her face like a broken bird's wing.

'Strangely enough', Yuan noted, 'According to Kratos' reports, that was fairly accurate.'

"Lloyd, you didn't do your homework!" The Raine puppet squalled and whipped on of her arms over to the side of the stage. "Corner for you!" Not even arguing, the Lloyd puppet bobbed over to the corner and stood.

"Here, have some buckets with water in them." The Raine puppet tossed some cardboard cutout buckets at him, which hit the Lloyd puppet squarely in the face.

"Why? Will it help with my training?"

"No, just hold the buckets." The puppet show then went on with the puppetty professor explaining how the world regeneration journey was going to go underway and such, the Lloyd puppet slowly slipping off his dowel to, Yuan figured, to demonstrate him sleeping in class. The snoring was also a clue.

"Well, class, I think that's enough explanations for now, so-"

"SHING!"

Like the lights of Judgment, a beam of shocking light streaked into Yuan's eyes, successfully rendering him temporarily blind. Though, just because he couldn't see, didn't mean he couldn't hear and guess what was going on.

"What the heck was that?"

"We're under attack!"

"No, it's the oracle!"

"It was shiny-"

"I MUST INVESTIGATE!" The Raine hand puppet flailed up in the air, just in time for Yuan's eyes to readjust and dove off to the side of the stage. A few seconds later, the professor puppet stuck her head back into the frame and Colette's actual hand held up on her plush arms so it pointed at the other three.

"Anyone moves, you're toast." As quickly as she'd come, the Raine puppet zipped off the stage again, leaving the original trio to their own devices.

"Wow, that blinding light woke me up and now I'm energetic with enthusiasm! Let's go explore!" The Lloyd puppet bounced up and down on his dowel. Agreeing with the Lloyd puppet, the Colette puppet walked towards the side of the stage, but snagged on the dowel and was sent flying off the stick onto the floor. Meanwhile, the Genis puppet looked from side to side and shook his head, or rather, all of him.

"We shouldn't go anywhere because my sister'll get mad-" He began to protest in the slightly nasal voice Colette had given him, but the Lloyd puppet bodyslammed him and dragged him off the stage, or at least, as best as a sleeve puppet could.

"To Martel Temple, away!" With all four of her introduced players off the stage, Colette peeked over the edge of the stage and brimmed with excitement and pleasure at herself for being so clever.

"What'd you think so far?" She asked, her eyes shining. Yuan sighed. What he wanted to say was 'I seriously hope your journey did not start out like that and you are merely exaggerating', but a nagging voice in the back of his head told him that was probably the closest rendition of events he'd ever receive. Though, whatever it had been that she had used to blind him certainly had done its job well. He was still seeing spots.

"What was that bright light you used?" Yuan asked while he tried massaging his temples in an effort to rid his vision of the brightly colored orbs that danced through his eyes.

"Flashlight." Colette held up a canary yellow flashlight that read 'property of the renegade engineering department' on the side with big black letters and grinned toothily.

"Effective, right?"

"... very."

* * *

"Argh, they just pulled my hair!" Zelos squalled as he dashed down the boardwalk with all he could muster, tears of pain trailing down the side of his face from where a rogue mascot had snagged him by his scarlet tresses.

"Run faster then, you idiot!" Sheena shouted back, her puffed ponytail's spikes standing out on end as she too booked it across the walk of Altamira's prestigious resort. Ever since Presea had liberated them from the employee break building, all four school kids had been on the run from an army of mascots, custodians and anyone else they could call in for backup.

Even though they still had their exspheres, running around constantly was taking a toll on their systems, which showed in the winded faces of both Sheena and Zelos and even Regal looked like all he wanted was a snack and a nap. Needless to say, their tiny motors were beginning to wane. Presea, however, didn't seem bothered by her new body very much, if at all. From the way she moved, the atomic axe wielder was used to wandering around like this, and her body hadn't changed as drastically as the others. Thankfully, she wasn't very tired, which more than made up for the fact the other three looked like they were going to fall over any minute.

Thanks to Presea's methods of plowing through the sea of large men in costumes, they had managed to make their way through the park with minimal effort, but unfortunately it wasn't the most effective method when it came to being inconspicuous in a crowd. The sea of park goers had parted in order to avoid the sprinting squirts, and as an inadvertent result, had led the band of carnival workers right to them. To top it off, when the crowd moved out of their way, no one bothered to ask themselves why a group of elementary school kids were being pursued by the park workers. All they did was point and stare excitedly. After all, seeing a little girl in a sailor suit and matching beret mow down a bunch of men five times her size with an axe was quite a sight indeed. From the smiling faces and the children pointing at her, most of them probably thought she was part of the attraction as an exhibition for a sponsor. That, or they thought it was funny to see four kids battling and scraping their way through the employees as they ran for the exit.

"End of the line!" A burly looking employee that could have past for a mansion with legs gruffed, his arms spread wide eagle. Instead of looking panicked like most children her age would've, Presea merely narrowed her eyes and dashed forward, her axe at the ready.

"Beast!" The slender sailor cried, as she swung her axe forward in a horizontal arc, sending a blast of raw energy right into the chest of the barrier in a striped uniform shirt. Not having expected such a powerful attack, the carny lurched backwards and staggered off balance, the wind knocked out of him. Presea then bounded into the air, stepped on his face and bounced over him like he was an inflatable step stool.

"Please, everyone come this way!" The pigtailed powerhouse called back to them all, ignoring all of the applause she was receiving from the encroaching onlookers. "The exit is just ahead!" Unfortunately, neither the shrunken swordsman nor the slight summoner heard her. They were too busy bickering again.

"I'm running as fast as I can!" Zelos retorted hotly, his red hair whipping him in the face. "I know you're more aerodynamic than before, but cut me a break!"

"You're lucky we're escaping and I can't reach you, because if I could, I'd make sure you'd be so lumpy no one could tell you apart from the Fooji Mountain range!"

"Big words from a chick whose chest is so flat, she could be used as a surf board!"

Breathing harshly out of irritation and the fact his chest was on fire, Regal turned his head over his shoulder and stared the arguing pair down.

"Run more, discuss later- Oof!" He began to chastise, but a barrier collided with his chest and Regal ricocheted backwards like a rubber ball hitting a wall. While it had been important to tell the two in the back to knock it off until they were not being chased by mascots, running while not watching where he'd been going probably wasn't the best idea he'd had in the short span of time he'd been an eleven year old.

Regal hit the stone hard, kicking up a cloud of dust which blinded both him and the outside world from each other.

"Are you alright, young man?"

Once the dust had cleared, the puny president looked up to see his second in command, George, who for his vacation had donned a horribly lurid flower shirt over his signature white button down one, gazing down at him, lines of concern etched in his aged face.

"George!" Regal exclaimed excitedly, thoroughly out of breath. George was well known throughout the Lezareno company for having impeccable timing and he certainly lived up to his reputation. However, instead of greeting Regal with his customary bow like he always did, George blinked several times and rustled his mustache back and forth like a broom.

"Master Regal?" The elderly gentleman asked incredulously, not sure how to respond to the sudden exclamation from the boy who resembled the president of the Lezareno company. "No, that can't be. Master Regal is much older-"

"No, George, I'm Regal!" Regal cut him off from where he sat on the dust covered ground, flipping backward and landing on his feet. Regardless of his appearance and his instant recognition of who the elderly servant of the house of Bryant however, George was less than convinced.

"Now, young man, lying is a bad characteristic." George reprimanded stiffly, his mustache bristling in disapproval. "You may look like Master Regal when he was younger, but the master has grown since then." Regal sighed. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to use his secret weapon, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and being chased by mascots certainly counted.

"George, it's me and I can prove it." Regal stated urgently, his face rosy from straining his new body too hard. "I'm president of the Lezareno company, I'm thirty three years old, one of my pastimes is cooking, Alicia is the only woman I've ever loved, my favorite food is tofu, I'm allergic to melon and you have a secret collection of multicolored toy boats that you think no one knows about holed up in your study."

George froze like a statue and stared at him.

".. it really IS you, sir." The older gentleman immediately took a step back and swiftly bowed in respect, though the lurid shirt took away from his elegance. "Pardon my comments, but you look just like you did at the tender age of eleven. It seems only yesterday I was chasing you out of that old tree that used to grow in the sky terrace-"

"Hey, can you reminisce later?" Zelos' indignant voice blared in their direction. "We're kinda getting attacked over here!" Both Regal and George turned just in time to see Zelos get hoisted into the air by his ankle by an impressively large dog in suspenders, which Sheena and Presea had been backed into a corner.

"Cease and desist at once!" The elderly gentleman commanded sharply to all of the workers, his mustache frilled out much like Sheena's puff. Like clockwork, each of the employees froze, pivoted in place and saluted him, paws and no paws.

"George, sir!" chorused from all over, even from the guy who still held Zelos aloft by his leg.

"Why exactly are you chasing these children?" The dustbroom mustached gentleman inquired, his arms folded against his vibrant shirt and his flour dusted eyebrows set in a frown.

"They broke out of the holding area after they were caught sneaking into the park. We gave chase and-"

"Ah, I see. I shall deal them myself. You are dismissed."

"Sir-"

"Dismissed!"

The workers, knowing they had no chance of convinced George otherwise, turned on their heels and quickly, albeit grudgingly, trudged back to their posts. As the retreating employee's backs faded into the crowd, all four whelps let out a collective sigh of relief and collapsed in a heap on the stone walkway. Even Zelos, who'd been practically dumped on his head again by the crankiest dog he'd ever seen, was thrilled to see the stone walkway as a comfy cushion.

"Ah floor, how I missed you." He cooed, trying to lay on and hug the walk at the same time.

"George, thank you." Regal ran a hand through his soaked cornflower blue hair and took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly while taking in the moment.

"You're welcome, Master Regal, but what in Tethe'alla happened and why are you all school children?"

"I'll explain it all later once we're in my office." The petite president replied as he got up from his seat on the floor and dusted himself off. "However, I think perhaps a nap, some tea and a pad of paper to write up those employees, dock their pay and demote them is in order first."

George sighed tiredly.

"Master Regal, as justifiably irritated as you may be, please remember they were just doing their jobs."

Regal frowned and and rested his arms against his chest, the sparkly pink cuffs glinting in the sunlight.

".. I'm still docking their pay."

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE GONE?" Pronyma demanded vehemently, her face broiling so much it resembled the color of Ifreet's hellfire. The elf director of the orphanage glanced up from her bottle of bourbon, hiccuped and leaned back into her rickety chair, her face also red as a cherry, albeit for a completely different reason.

"They're out the door, not here anymore, elsewhere, gone with the wind." She replied inebriatedly while a gaggle of children ran by and knocked over a small bookcase. "What, you want more names for it? I got all night."

Pronyma's cheek twinged. She'd merely stepped out of the city limits for the shorter part of an hour to contact Cruxis, and because of her misstep, now the weakened Lloyd Irving was long gone.

"Where did they go?" She inquired, trying to keep her voice even and not do what she wanted, which was to pitch the wheezened old bat into the rotting wall behind her. As much as she would have just loved to give in to her initial urge, the garish grand cardinal didn't want to risk the foundation of the dilapidated old building collapsing while she was still inside. So, such feelings would have to be reserved for a later date, perhaps for when she found what idiot had allowed her prize to escape.

"Eh, somewhere." The wrinkly prune of an elf shrugged.

"Could you be a little more specific?"

"Nope. I've got adopter confidentiality stuff that's bound by magic. Can't break it even if I wanted to. You want 'em, find them yourselves."

Pronyma's temper flared.

"Fine, I will!" She barked and without another word, stalked out of the crumbling excuse for an orphanage. Muttering angrily at herself, Pronyma strode out into the street and headed for the main square, her thick makeup baking in the late evening sun.

Pronyma was furious. She had no new recruits, Lloyd Irving was nowhere to be seen and the worst part was, the message of urgency she'd received had only been a malfunction of the core system in Derris Kharlan. When she'd called in to see what it was she had been summoned for, the angel at the main control panel informed her that apparently no one had sent for her to their knowledge and what had probably occurred was a signal cross connection, nothing more, nothing less.

"That old crone of a woman, she'll regret crossing me." She cursed in a hushed hiss. It was that ancient bag who'd just let Lloyd waltz out with whoever found his little display to be amusing and it was for that Pronyma swore she'd have her revenge. Though, whoever procured him must have had a few screws loose if they planned to take on such an impudent and headstrong whelp. The living grand cardinal makeup mural laughed hollowly and coldly like she'd exhaled a gust of air from Celsius' cavern. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Though, that brought up another point. If Lloyd had any sense at all, which was debatable from what she read off the reports, he wouldn't stick around to get caught a second time. Chances were pretty good if the person who purchased him lived in the city, he would try to sneak off the first opportunity he had.

"He won't get far, though. That contract is binding to however holds it." She mused, flipping her jade green hair over her rune painted shoulders. "Of course he won't know that. If I am fortunate, he'll spend most of his time fighting the magic with his physical strength and that will drain him of it just long enough for my men to find him."

"Perhaps good fortune is on my side after all. I haven't told Lord Yggdrasill about this blunder as of yet, so he won't need to know that slight morsel of information. If I pool my men to search the city inside and out, while the others from the various platoons search outside, in theory I should be able to make up for such a deathly mistake." Pulling out her comlink, Pronyma flipped it open and pressed the button someone had drawn a small heart on with pink permanent pen, which then began to blink rapidly as it patched through. Ducking into the side of an alley, she then inhaled deeply and pressed the blinking button again with her faux talons.

"Lord Yggdrasill."

"What is it, Pronyma?" While she had been expecting the older and dignified voice that Yggdrasill used while in his older form, the young, boyish voice of one Mithos poured out of the communicator, his tone indicated he was rather irritated being interrupted. "Make it quick, I'm very busy."

"There have been... some new developments."

* * *

**Wahoo, there's another chapter down!**

**Lloyd: For someone who just finished a chapter, you look kinda irked.**

**Me: I'm fine and I'm very happy about the chapter being done, I'm just a little indignant.**

**Lloyd: Why?**

**Me: I found out the release date of the fourth episode of the Tethe'alla Arc.**

**Lloyd: What is it?**

**Me: *mumbles crankily***

**Lloyd: What? I didn't get that-**

**Me: I said, February 25th, 2011!**

**Lloyd: WHAT? That's forever from now!**

**Me: I know! It's been driving me up the wall waiting this long for the third episode! Now it's going to be another five months after that!**

**Lloyd: So what am I gonna do now while I wait?**

**Me: I dunno. Read?**

**Lloyd: That's not all that exciting.**

**Me: Then you think of something exciting to do, ye of little attention span.**

**Lloyd: Okay then. So, while I'm thinking of something, please review!**

**Genis: We might be here a while.**

**Lloyd: Hey!**


	20. Convoluted Complications

**Author's note:**

**Genis: Uh, hi everyone. I'm doing the prologue for this chapter, because the author just finished watching the latest episode of the Tethe'alla arc, which came out a day or two ago, and ever since then, she's just kinda been staring at the screen.**

**Me: ...**

**Genis: She's been like that for about four hours now. **

**Me: ... amazing...**

**Genis: Uh, yeah. So, while she's kinda in a tales induced state of suspended animation, I'll fill in. The chapter was supposed to come out the same day as the third episode, but life's responsibilities got in the way, so it didn't get finished in time. Okay, first off thank you to anyone who read, favorited, alerted and a combo of all three. Also, gargantuan thanks to Bubble-Headed Brunette, silent romantic, AngelofaWhiteNight, Arisu Tsuranu, michiruchama, ThePurpleRose, teno-hikari, Kiomori, and Destiny's Light who commented, and also thanks to those who pointed out some of the accidental typos courtesy of the delete button. A trigger happy delete button finger can be a very bad thing. She'd personally do all the thanking if she wasn't a computer zombie right now.**

**Me: ... february...**

**Genis: ... Okay then, disclaimer time. The mighty Namco corporation owns Tales of Symphonia, not the author. If the author did, she wouldn't be sitting there gaping at her computer screen like a fish out of water.**

**Me: ...can't watch next installment... until february... what a cliffhanger... 2011... namco... sadistic...**

Chapter Twenty: Convoluted Complications

"What do you exactly do you mean by that, Pronyma?" Mithos Yggdrasill demanded as he gripped the luminescent comlink in his slightly dirt ridden hand. Mithos wasn't usually dirty or even dusty most of the time, but as he'd been carrying an ancient bucket that maintained a healthy level of debris on its outside surface, getting a smidgen grimy was unavoidable.

As soon as he'd finished his brief inspection of the proceedings of Cruxis and Welgaia, Mithos once again donned his natural appearance, which worked as a clever disguise against Lloyd and his offbeat band of misfits, as they only knew his older facade as the leader of Cruxis. By using the excuse he'd gone for a walk and merely gotten lost for the good part of a day, he'd quickly returned back to his covert position as a lone young half elf living with a dwarf and an automated doll that unsettlingly resembled his long dead sister. As such covert positions required him to act the part, he'd gone to fetch a bucket of water Tabatha needed for some cooking she was preparing. However, the moment he reached the well, his comlink had signaled someone was trying to reach him. He'd been hoping it was either Kratos, or even Yuan amazingly enough, but instead it was Pronyma. Initially highly irritated that Pronyma had contacted him while he was in cognito, his aggravation was quickly lost when she gave him the news she had come across.

Fascinating, wonderful news that made his pulse quicken in excitement and his palms sweat.

Needless to say, the bucket of water he'd been fetching for Tabatha sat next to the side of the well, empty and long forgotten.

"Just as I said, Lord Yggdrasill." Pronyma's voice poured out from the speaker end of the link. "Lloyd Irving, for reasons unexplained, has reverted back to the age of a mere six year old whelp."

"And you're sure of this?" The slender angelic being gripped the communicator tautly while he rested his right hip against the side of the well.

"Most definitely, Lord Yggdrasill."

"What about the rest of his friends?"

"While I do not know about the majority of them, I did see one other with him, the young half elf boy. He was also much younger than he was before, I estimate about the age of four or so."

"... I see." Mithos murmured quietly. Sure he was thrilled to hear this kind of news about Lloyd, but if Genis was also like that, was he okay? After all, he was also very young, according to Pronyma, and half elves were not well received regardless of age. Perhaps if he sent out some scouts to scope out the areas or did a search and rescue himself, maybe he'd find Genis and then make sure he was alright-

"What are your wishes concerning the matter of Lloyd and his followers?" Mithos' head snapped up and his eyes landed on the comlink. Apparently Pronyma had been waiting for some type of commanding response and he'd been a little late on producing. Impatient Bint anyway. Resting his chin on his fist, Mithos leaned fully against the well's brick surface and began to ponder what course of action he should take. He stayed like that for the good part of ten minutes, mostly to thoroughly plan out his strategy, but partially because he really felt like irritating Pronyma since he knew she wouldn't dare retaliate.

"... I want the desians to halt all prior activities and devote every waking moment to locating and capturing Lloyd Irving." The youthful angelic entity finally said quietly into his comlink, his voice stern and serious that it did not match his appearance at all.

"All prior activities?"

"Yes, ranch recalibrations, exsphere production, Renegade hunting, all of it. I want every desian and member of Cruxis out searching for him and I want him brought in as soon as possible. Tell Forcystus to forget anything else I might have ordered him to do as of right now. I want him to place as many platoons as he can spare in every major city in Sylvarant, while the papal knights are to search the Tethe'allan cities. Leave no rock unturned, no building uninvestigated."

"Show no mercy to him just because he is now a child. Do whatever you must. Use any means necessary. I don't care how it's done. When Lloyd has been located, I want him captured ALIVE, and brought straight to me in one piece. You may have your fun with him, but keep him breathing."

Find him. Subdue him. Bring him to me on Welgaia."

"Understood Lord Yggdrasill. Is there anything else you wish of me?" Mithos lowered his head briefly while he thought further inward, his blond bangs drifting into his face with a swishing motion.

"Yes. I want you to make sure that Kratos knows nothing about this. If he catches wind of it, chances are more than likely he will attempt to deal with the problem himself, if you understand my meaning. I do not want him... involved."

"Keep him in the dark as long as possible. Also, in addition to that, I want you to go find him right now and find out exactly what he's up to and where he's been. Confront him if you must, but keep any information in regards to Lloyd a complete secret. He is not to know."

"Understood."

"Good. Don't fail me, Pronyma."

"Yes, Lord Yggdrasill." Pronyma's voice trailed off the comlink, which flickered for a moment like it was about to drop the connection, but to his surprise, the comlink flashed brightly again, the connection still strong.

"Also, Lord Yggdrasill." The leader of the two remaining Grand Cardinal's cooed through the communicator. Mithos sighed.

'Ah, typical. Pronyma wants to add something else that will make her look better. Though, I'm not sure we have enough angels in Welgaia to assist with a project that immense.' He rolled his eyes, let out a sharp breath and glanced down at the communicator in his hand.

"What is it?"

"I did want to mention to you that although they all have most likely reverted back to a childlike state, Lloyd's group have been able to make pacts with all but one summon spirit."

"I am aware of that. What is your point?"

"Do you have any wishes regarding-"

"The only wishes I have are for Lloyd to be found and presented to me as soon as he is in custody. Now go get him!" Mithos snapped sharply at her, her smarmy antics getting on his last nerve. A small 'eep' emitted from the receiver, as the lurid lackey had caught on to his irritated impatience, and from the rustling sounds that came from the communicator, Mithos guessed she'd probably dropped the comlink.

"Yes, my lord. Forgive me." Pronyma frantically backpedaled and the comlink shut off with a short beep. Snorting exasperatedly at the comlink, Mithos stuffed it into his side pants pocket and picked up the bucket he'd left on the ground. Pronyma could get so irksome at times. Sure, he knew she was doing her job and such, but what part of 'I don't care about anything except finding Lloyd' did she not understand? It wasn't exactly high exsphere research. Mithos rolled his eyes, tied the thick frayed rope to the metal handle and unceremoniously pitched the bucket into the open maw of the well.

'This is... perfect. Lloyd, that impudent hotheaded thorn in my side, he's the final shred of proof that Kratos ever strayed from Cruxis, from me. If I get rid of Lloyd permanently, then it'll be as if Kratos had never left Cruxis in the first place.' The age old half elf boy smirked to himself as he lowered the bucket of water into the well with the well crank and listened for the sound of wood hitting the murky water below. 'It'll be like it never happened and everything can go back to the way they used to be. And when Martel is fitted in her new body, Yuan will come back and then we'll all be together again, just the four of us.'

'Just like it's supposed to be.'

Hearing the sound of the decrepit old bucket hit the surface of the water, Mithos let down some more rope and submerged the bucket completely into the water.

'Kratos needn't ever learn the truth. I'll just put down in the archives that Lloyd was felled by an accident.' He mused while he leaned over the side of the well, waiting for the bucket to fill up with water. 'Knowing Kratos, if anything... unfortunate befell Lloyd, he would most likely try to blame Cruxis or perhaps me directly and as a result, defect again. That's why I haven't struck yet. There hasn't been an opportunity to strike that I know I could win flat out. That boy's harder to kill than a cockroach with a moist napkin. But..' Peering down the well again, Mithos latched his hands on the splintering crank and began to reel in his watery prize, albeit much slower than before.

'If Lloyd suffered a stray attack or maybe he succumbed to the outside conditions, that wouldn't be any fault of mine. Even Kratos can't argue with accidents and mishaps, these things happen. After all, a diminished size and age does weaken one's constitution at times, so it is all very plausible that such a fate could befall Lloyd.' He added coolly, though his face was a tinge pinker as the crank proving to be a bit more than he'd expected.

'He doesn't need to know that for the sake of preserving what the four of us had, I had to... erase a few trivial things here and there.' Once the bucket was at the very top of the well, Mithos very carefully untied the waterlogged bucket from the rope and, carrying the bucket in both hands, began his mile long trek back to Altessa's house. As heavy as the bucket was and as far away as the aged dwarf's house seemed, Mithos didn't seem to pay it any attention. His mind was elsewhere, more specifically on Lloyd and how exactly he would 'take care of him' once and for all.

He had to do this, not just for the sake of his age of lifeless beings, but for the sake of everyone. Lloyd was better off gone. He'd never done anything, but cause Kratos grief and interfere with the completion of Mithos' perfect world where no one would be persecuted. Plus, he'd stolen away Martel's new body, which took over a decade to complete, and flat out rejected the exspheres, which were vital to the age of half elves that Mithos so passionately strived for.

The blonde boy angel wrinkled his nose. It was just ironic that Lloyd hated his way oh so much, not that he actually understood it, of course. If it hadn't been for the method he'd been using to preserve the worlds, Lloyd wouldn't even have existed. Not that he was supposed to in the first place, of course, but still, it was the principle of the thing. He could be a little grateful, that spiky haired snot.

The irate angelic half elf shook his head, his face bright pink with rage, and kept walking briskly while he carried the bucket by the handle. The bucket swung back and forth, half full with water, as about two thirds of the way back it sprung a leak. However, the blonde half elf was far too incensed to care that the well water was slowly draining out through the hole on the side.

'It's just a matter of time. Once I get my hands on him, I'll make sure he doesn't interfere any longer... permanently.'

"WELCOME BACK MITHOS."

Turning his eyes away from a spot in the sky he'd been staring at so intently, the slender androgynous half elf saw Tabatha, the servant automaton, headed towards him. Mithos inwardly groaned. Each time he saw Tabatha, a stinging sensation would burn in his chest and give him atrocious heartburn and indigestion. It was like fate was shoving the fact his sister had been brutally murdered right in front of him in his face again with having Tabatha so closely resemble Martel to the point that even he had trouble telling them apart. Biting back an urge to let his heart explode out through his mouth and destroy something with purple lightning, Mithos instead trotted over to her, the bucket he held outstretched.

"Hi Tabatha!" Mithos piped up, doing his best to mask his incredibly irked heart. "I got the water just like you asked."

"THANK YOU MITHOS. THAT WAS VERY KIND OF YOU." Tabatha mechanically responded and smiled at him. His insides lurched and he almost lost his own grin. Every single time that machine... that fake beamed at him, thoughts of his sister and how she would smile flashed in his minds' eye, reminding him of how homesick he really was. Not home as in where he lived, but home as who should have been there waiting for him.

"You're welcome." He replied mechanically, having kept a hold on his smiling face, though he had no idea how he had managed to do so. Tabatha kept her own smile, so he guessed it had been enough to fool her. Shaking his head once, Mithos handed her the bucket he'd been carrying and turned on his heel.

'Don't worry, Martel.' The slender half elf clenched his fist into the folds of fabric over his heart as he slowly walked away from Tabatha, who was looking inside the bucket, her normally emotionless features adorned with traces of confusion. 'I'll get you a new body and then we'll all be together again. You, me, Kratos and Yuan too-'

"MITHOS."

"Huh?" Mithos snapped himself out of his stupor and glanced over his shoulder. "What is it?" Tabatha still stood where she had before, having not moved an.. er... muscle, and held out the bucket sideways, revealing that it was completely empty, save a few drops.

"THE WATER IS GONE."

Mithos gaped at the empty bucket. Where could the water have possibly gone? He'd just been to the well, hence finding out about Lloyd's current predicament and plotting his untimely demise on the way back. Still, the water had been there the whole time. Unless it had left for a walk, where the contents of the bucket had disappeared to was a complete mystery.

"Where'd it go? I know I filled it, but-"

"MITHOS."

"What?"

"YOUR PANTS."

Mithos blinked. 'Pants'? What did she mean 'pants'?

...unless...

Grimacing slightly, the thin half elf boy glanced down at the lower half of his body and groaned. His pants and the lower half of his tunic were utterly drenched with water. He'd been so involved in his own thoughts, he'd completely missed the fact the bucket had leaked all of the water onto his clothes so he looked like a half drowned rat. After all, it took a while to readjust into his real form, and so his sensations weren't at their normal peak. It wasn't that they went away when he was in his adult visage, but they were certainly weakened, enough so that it was no wonder why he missed the fact he was soaked. Mithos pinched the bridge of his nose. He was doing errands for a machine, he was covered in foliage, dirt and debris, and his pants were so waterlogged, he couldn't even tell what color they were supposed to be anymore.

This was not dignifying for the leader of Cruxis.

His shoulders slumped, Mithos walked over to Tabatha, took the bucket from her and scooped up a hand full of wet clay that he could use as a patch for the leaky container.

"... I'll go get more water." He sighed dejectedly, and turning on his heel, trudged back up the hill towards the well, except this time a lovely squelching noise accompanied him with each step he took, merrily squeaking all the way.

* * *

"ACHOO!" Lloyd sneezed violently into his red shirt sleeve like he'd inhaled a pound of pepper and gasped for air through the soft cotton like he'd just returned to the surface from deep sea diving without an air tank. As Lloyd had just attempted heartily to sneeze out an organ or two, both the Professor, who was clutching a blueprint she'd 'rescued' from the Sybak Research Building, and Genis, who had been eying both his sister and their angelic chaperone warily, turned their heads over their shoulders and stared at him as if they expected him to explode via his nose. Kratos hadn't looked back, but instead kept his gaze firmly planted on the expanse of road in front of him, ever focused on whatever he was plotting in his enigmatic head. Lloyd didn't really know what yet, but if there was a way, he was going to find out, no matter how difficult it was to get Kratos to share his future plans. Of course, it was proving to be rather hard, not that Lloyd was surprised much. However, the tiny swordsman was a little too occupied with his sneezing attack to be scrutinizing every step Kratos took.

Once Lloyd completely recovered from his sneezing fit and removed his face from his sleeve, the slight swordsman noticed both of his friends' gazes and turned a light shade of pink. It had been uncomfortably quiet ever since they all had departed from Sybak, as both swordsmen had been forced to remove Lloyd's ruin deranged teacher from the adamantite converter without damaging the internal hardware. That task had proven harder said than done. Lloyd had hoped that Kratos aiding him would have made the task that much easier, but after the Professor sank her eight year old fangs into the seraph's forearm and wouldn't budge no matter how hard Kratos pulled at her poncho, Lloyd figured that no such luck was to be had. It was only after Lloyd used one of the blueprints as bait did Raine loosen her grip on the machine just long enough for Kratos to yank her off and free the converter from it's school aged barnacle.

Needless to say, no one was in the best of moods. Raine was irritated she'd been pried from her latest treasure of magitechnology, Genis was highly embarrassed at his sister's crazed display, and Kratos was not in the best of moods due to the fact he'd been chewed on, not to mention he had to explain to the curator exactly why the lab window curtains had been torn off their rod by what looked like a rabid badger. Coupled with all three of the others demeanors and Lloyd's muteness because his thoughts were focused on what the test charts had meant, a stagnant silence had taken over the atmosphere so thick, it felt like sound had no place in the world nor could it bore its way in.

Though, Lloyd's sneezing had successfully taken care of that.

"What, can't a guy sneeze without getting an audience?" He thought tersely, his face still pink from embarrassment at their gawking.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Genis asked, his silvery eyebrow perched in an angle on his forehead.

"I'm fine, I just had to... to... ah... ah... ACHOO!" Lloyd began, but another powerful sneeze interrupted him and he buried his nose into his shirt sleeve once more. Genis and the Professor both winced as he did and even Kratos glanced over his shoulder to see exactly what was going on.

"Jeez, it's just like before when you were trying to blow your brains out your nose!" Genis grimaced, his hands clapped over his fragile ears. "What'd you get into, a pollen patch?"

"I.. I dunno." Lloyd wheezed as he looked up from his red clad arm, still out of breath from his last two sneezes. They'd literally knocked the wind out of him and his eyes were watering from the sheer force of the sneeze attack. Swallowing hard, the youthful swordsman rubbed the side of his face with other sleeve and rasped in another breath before he passed out due to lack of air. However, before he had a chance to fully exhale, a hand smacked him flatly on his forehead and Lloyd became face to face with the third grade visage of his eccentric schoolteacher. If it hadn't been for his lack of breathing, Lloyd would have yelped like a wolf who'd sat on a particularly angry hornet.

"Are you ill?" The professor inquired scrutinizingly, her palm still suctioned onto his forehead.

"Professor, I'm fine. I just had to sneeze." Lloyd replied as he tried looking up at her hand on his head, which in turn made his eyes cross. The puny professor didn't seem convinced.

"Even if you say you are not ill, you could be becoming so." The professor patted his forehead twice in a decisive manner, reached into her pocket and pulled out a thermometer. She then twirled it in her fingers, pointed it like a scepter at Lloyd and rolled up her sleeves. "That's it, I'll examine you and then we'll get to the bottom of this-"

"Maybe he has allergies to something out here." Genis quickly interjected while flapping his arms up and down like he was attempted flight. "That would explain that, right? Sis, please put the thermometer away."

"It's just from the cold, that's all, honest." Lloyd insisted fervently while he rubbed the now red palm print he had on his forehead. "I'm not sick or ill or dying or anything. I'm just fine." Though she didn't seem too impressed, Raine finally relented and stuffed the thermometer back into her poncho pocket. Once it was firmly back in place, the erratic eight year old turned on her heel and restarted her trek up the large hill through the underbrush. Both Lloyd and Genis watched her retreating back, and simultaneously let out a breath of relief, as neither of them knew exactly whether or not she was going to take Lloyd's temperature with that thermometer or beat him with it.

"Maybe what Sheena said was right and someone's talking about you behind your back." The half elven preschooler suggested while he folded his arms over his head.

"You think so?" Lloyd asked, his eyebrow caulked. After all that had happened after they'd shrunk to the size of brats, he'd completely forgotten about the incident prior with the sneezing and the superstition about people talking behind his back. Being turned into a six year old, scared out of his wits more than he'd like to admit and thrust into a whole new situation every five minutes did usually have a tendency to affect people's memories after all.

"Lloyd."

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked twice in surprise as he was thrown out of his thoughts and looked up from where he'd been staring at the ground to see Kratos was holding out the snow colored scarf just inches from his boyish nose.

"I believe this is yours." The stoic seraphim held out the icy scarf and gestured with a flick of his wrist for him to take it.

"My scarf?" The slender swordsman asked surprisedly as he reached out a hand and took the plush piece of fabric from the elder angel. "I thought I left that back at the orphanage."

"You did, but I retrieved it for you while you were unconscious." Kratos replied curtly, his left hand returned to its proper place on the hilt of his sword. "You should be able to stave off the cold if you wear it." Nodding once, Lloyd quickly wrapped the muffler around his thin, pale neck and smiled smugly to himself as the thick fabric nestled against the bare of his skin and hugged him in a warm hello.

"Thanks." Lloyd murmured through his scarf, but when he looked up again, Kratos had already taken his place back at the front of the ragtag caravan of sorts, leaving Lloyd alone to his own scarf filled devices. The bantam boy knew he'd been a little slow on the uptake on thanking the older man, and sure he had enhancing hearing, but whether or not the antiquated angelic lord had heard him through the folds of his flannel muffler he wasn't sure. After all, that wasn't a complete guarantee that Kratos could decipher 'scarfish'. Sighing tiredly, the wanton warrior shrugged at Kratos' habit of suddenly appearing and disappearing just as quickly, held up his scarf and breathed into it. Sure enough, it was his, no question. The fresh scent of grass from the outside combined with a few hints of fresh cooking lingered within the threads of the scarf and each breath he took reminded him more of home. Letting out another poignant sigh, Lloyd turned his eyes up to the cloudy steel blue sky and stretched his arms to the heavens above.

'Man, I must have sneezed pretty hard if even Kratos noticed and handed me back my scarf because of it.' The shrunken seven year old thought as he trekked behind Genis and Raine, his midsection dangerously close to being sideswiped by her bright orange poncho as it flapped in the wind. 'It's not like I blew my organs all over the path. I just sneezed twice. That's not a big deal or anything... wait...'

'Sneezing twice means someone is saying bad stuff about me behind my back. Right, I had forgotten about that.' Lloyd sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he trudged on. 'That was just before that earthquake and we all got turned into little kids. So, if I sneezed twice again, that meant someone was talking about me behind my back like before. But.. Kratos hasn't said a thing since we left Sybak, with the exception of telling me to put on my scarf, so it couldn't have been him."

'If that's the case, Kratos hadn't been the one talking about me behind my back.' The petite powerhouse let that sink in for a moment or two before a colossal grin snaked its way onto his face, engulfed his body and he glowed so much if the other three had been paying him attention, they would needed sunglasses.

For the first time in days, nay weeks even, Lloyd was truly relieved. While Kratos hadn't seemed more agitated than he normally was, which the tiny boy did admit wasn't exactly a shining example, Lloyd had honestly been worried that Kratos had been badmouthing him. Now, he figured Kratos wasn't the type to indulge in mindless conversation, or conversation at all for that matter, but he could never really tell what that man was thinking or not thinking. It was that sheer mystery of the elder angel that plucked at Lloyd's inner curiosity and compelled him to dig deeper to find more about the enigma of a seraph.

However, while that was all good and well that Kratos hadn't been the one hating him, that fact alone posed a new problem all by itself.

'Who had it really been?' Lloyd's nose wrinkled up and his once relieved expression furrowed back into a pensive gaze at the sky once more. It had to have been an enemy of a serious nature. Sure some people didn't like him and he'd learned to accept that, but to openly curse his name? That sounded like something that only a seriously dangerous enemy from Cruxis would do. That, or it was that one old lady in Iselia who he still hadn't gotten his ball down off her roof from when he'd kicked it there when he was nine. Lloyd snorted. No, between the two, he'd have to go with a Cruxis emissary. But who could it have been? He didn't know any of the low level desians personally, so it was probably someone higher up.

Rodyle? No, they'd offed him at the expense of Botta, Forcystus had too much to probably worry about. Kvar and Magnius were long since toast thanks to the professor's ranch destroying tendencies, Remiel was out because he got used as a pincushion, a thought that made Lloyd snicker, and while he knew he pissed off Pronyma, she didn't seem the type to let much get to her. If she was, Lloyd doubted she'd wear those garish outfits with reckless abandon.

Yuan was out too, because while he was irked by Lloyd's commentary over his lack of originality, the shrimpy swordsman didn't believe him to be one who lost his temper over something so slight. If that had been the case, Lloyd would have been a dual sword wielding pile of dust after their first meeting in his office in the Triet renegade base.

'Shoot, I listed everyone I could think of who'd have it out for me.' Lloyd counted off each one on his fingers, but nobody fit the bill quite right. There was someone missing, someone who had something else on the others besides the fact he was probably still breathing. Probably.

'What about Yggdrasill? I didn't count him.' he added to himself, but the moment he did, a large snort of laughter brewed in the pit of his stomach and he had to cover both his nose and mouth to keep it from escaping.

Nah, it couldn't have been Yggdrasill. While he and Lloyd had clashed blows once before, or rather, he'd smacked the then almost full grown swordsman into a glowing pillar with the flat edge of a very heavy, very hard violet sword that shimmered brightly all by itself without the help of sunlight. All in all, the whole endeavor had been embarrassing as hell, as Lloyd'd gotten wiped with the floor by a guy with multi-hued wings and a technicolor dream sword, but that wasn't the point. Why would Yggdrasill care enough about the fact that Lloyd was alive to openly curse his existence? It's not like he lost that fight. As much as Lloyd hated to admit it, all he'd managed to do was buy Colette some time and get out of his grasp due to dumb luck. As he thought more about it, a sharp stab of guilt hit the slender seven year old's stomach and memories of his past failures regarding Colette flooded his mind, each more impressionable than the last. However, while he did feel guilty about all the dumb decisions he'd made, Lloyd at least had enough common sense to know that no one really won that day. There hadn't been a black and white, win and lose, victor and loser scenario at the Tower of Salvation. What it had really been was Lloyd got lucky and Yggdrasill still kicked his butt without even trying. It seemed like a lot of wasted time and effort to go around hating Lloyd when in reality, he won more than Lloyd had. It's not like he was suffering from wounded pride. Besides, all Yggdrasill was interested in was Colette's soulless husk of a body so he could have a vessel for Martel. Anything about Lloyd had nothing to do with his own agenda...

... right?

"Hey, Kratos?"

Lloyd peered down from where he'd been staring at the sky and raised an eyebrow. As much as he'd wanted to break the impending silence that had attacked the outdoor atmosphere, the voice that had broken the tranquility, while young and boyish, had not been his own. It had been Genis. The older man, who'd been keeping a fairly good distance away from the pair of half elven siblings ever since Raine had tried chewing through his sleeve, glanced offhandedly over his shoulder at the precocious preschooler and nodded once so as to let him know he was paying attention.

"I was wondering, since you gave both Sis and my adoption forms, when are you going to give back Lloyd's?" Genis asked bluntly while a spike of silvery hair fluttered into his face. The instant his question left his mouth, Kratos stopped walking, Lloyd looked more confused than usual and Raine smacked the miniature mage sharply with the flat of her palm, which made him squeal in pain and clutch his head in agony.

"Genis!" She hissed, whacked him upside the back of his head again for good measure so her message of 'don't say what will get us all mangled' completely set in.

"What?" Genis squalled indignantly while he coddled his now maimed head. "It's a viable question and I want to know."

During all of the half elven sibling sparring, Kratos observed them from afar, much like Lloyd did, albeit from a different location. Judging from the slightly bemused expression on his features, Lloyd figured that he was debating over whether pulling them apart or merely letting them work it out on their own.

'That.. or he's just slightly bemused.' Lloyd added with a sigh. He was usually good at reading people, but Kratos was a whole new level beyond people and even after traveling around with him for about three quarters of a year, Lloyd still barely knew where to begin when it came to the method and style he operated with. Still, whatever the reasons Kratos had, Lloyd had other things to worry about. Specifically, what the heck Genis had meant when he'd said 'adoption forms' and 'give back Lloyd's'.

"What adoption forms?" Lloyd asked suspiciously while he eyed the still squabbling siblings, his eyebrow caulked upwards in an arc.

From amidst the chaos that were the two bickering half elven brats, eventually both realized they were being addressed by their red clad classmate, so both stopped arguing and dusted off themselves like two cats after a hissing match. Pretending nothing had happened, Raine fluffed out her poncho and Genis readjusted the tendrils of long iron grey hair so they were in their rightful position before he turned to Lloyd and pointed back at Kratos with a slim finger.

"When he sprung all of us from the orphanage while you were unconscious, Kratos gave both of our forms to Raine. Since he did that, we're emancipated."

Lloyd blinked.

"... you're what? 'Your pants were ated?' Genis, even I know that's bad grammar and your pants are fine, you're wearing them-"

"No, you numbnut, it means we're not under his custody. We can do as we like and he doesn't have a legal say in the matter. He isn't responsible for us and we're the same as adults now."

"Oh."

"Yeah, but here's the thing. He's still got your paper. That means you're still in his custody."

"Oh, I gotcha." Lloyd nodded, having mostly wrapped his head around what Genis had said. Genis nodded back, though his looked a lot more riddled with exasperation, and turned back to Kratos, who'd remained silent as an observer of sorts.

"So when are you going to give Lloyd his?" The miniscule mage inquired while perching his arms on his slender waist in an expectant stance. Instead of being compelled by Genis' fearsome interrogation techniques, Kratos eyed him for a moment, raised one of his auburn eyebrows and sighed.

"I do not plan on giving him that." The elder seraph replied flatly, his arms folded sternly against his chest which added to his already looming aura of authority. From where he stood in the back behind his half elven compatriots, the shrunken first grade swordsman's nose wrinkled up and his eyebrows sank into a suspicious frown. If there had been something so important that Kratos had in his possession, why had he handed over the other two to Raine, yet keep Lloyd's to himself? Lloyd's frown grew deeper. He hadn't even mentioned the form of eman... emanci... freedom to him and Lloyd knew Kratos wasn't the type to just forget things on a random whim.

Something was fishy, and Lloyd didn't like it.

"What?" Lloyd asked tersely, though he had been doing his best to mask his looming irritation with the antiquated angel's indifference. Unfortunately for him, Lloyd was a bad actor and an even worse liar. "Why not? I'm older than Genis, so why-"

"Your age is irrelevant. It would not be in my favor to give you that form."

"Why the heck is that?"

"Is it because that contract is not just legally binding, but magically binding as well?" Raine interjected smoothly like she had just spread soft cheese over warm bread with her voice. "If that is the case, Lloyd could not act against any wish or decree you have made, correct?" Kratos glanced briefly over at the eccentric eight year old, let out another patronizing breath and nodded once.

"That is so."

"Whaddya mean 'that is so'?" Lloyd demanded, the pallor in his cheeks having darkened with blush so they fiercely competed with his shirt for the title of supreme redness. Needless to say, he was not liking the way the conversation was turning.

"Lloyd, what that means is, as long as Kratos has that paper, you can't do anything that he says you can't." The teensy professor explained from Lloyd's right flank. "Because of the powerful magical spell imbued into the custodial contract, if the guardian gives a command to the ward, the ward has no choice but to obey."

"That's.. that's-"

"That means you can't do anything if Kratos forbids you and that includes rebelling against Cruxis." The petite preschooler added, having mistaken his unbridled horror over his predicament for sheer ignorance. "And judging by the look we're getting right now, you won't even be able to kick a desian in the shin if he doesn't give the go ahead.

"I know what that means, but if that's his main plan, then why'd he give you guys back yours?" Lloyd pointed out, hoping his flaw would deter a hole in their explanation and make his current situation less dire.

"He probably figured that there wasn't a need for him to keep ours." Raine replied coolly while she rested her arms against her chest, though they were both covered by her poncho. "If he has yours, he has all the control he needs and he knows there's no chance we'd leave you by yourself."

Lloyd opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself mid breath. To be completely truthful, he hadn't thought of that. Sure, he knew the professor and Genis wouldn't have just left him to his fate, but had Kratos really used that against them by handing over their own forms and yet keeping Lloyd's? By doing that, technically speaking he wouldn't be keeping them from freedom, but they would choose to stay out of their own accord and therefore be placing themselves in danger. Did he do that to procure a safeguard against Lloyd's anger if something happened to either of his friends? Or perhaps, did he want to use Lloyd as bait in order to get the pair of half elves to do what he wanted?

Lloyd frowned. He wouldn't have sunk that low, would he? Did the 'code of chivarish' cover that circumstance in a handbook? Lloyd didn't have a clue, he'd only heard of chivalry from when Kratos had mentioned it a while back, but it never hurt to ask. Though, for some odd reason, a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he wasn't going to like the answer very much.

"Is that true?" He asked, his cherrywood irises searching Kratos' features frantically for any sign that it could be a big misunderstanding and that he really hadn't rescued him from that orphanage solely so he could grasp such an opportunity. Sighing for the third time, Kratos ran a hand through his auburn bangs, and rested his left hand back on the hilt of his sword.

"Good. Since you've figured that out, it saves me time to explain." Regarding the look of dumbstruck dismay on Lloyd's face for mere second, Kratos then turned on his heel and continued down the path in dignified silence, leaving all three school children in his wake. Sighing to each other, both half elves quickly followed after him, which left Lloyd as the rear.

Feeling completely deflated, Lloyd's shoulders drooped as he picked up his pace again and the rising color flooded out of his face until he was positively drained. It was great that Kratos decided not to wipe the floor with him because of that code of chivalry thing, but to be stuck in the body of a kid and completely under the control of one of the most powerful assets of Cruxis? Could it get worse?

At that precise moment, Lloyd thought of Pronyma and inwardly shuddered. Alright, so it could be worse, but still, being under the reign of a high ranking member of Cruxis? Whether he liked it or not, Kratos had that form and as long as he had it, Lloyd was even more at a disadvantage than he thought. Kratos or no Kratos, chivalry or no chivalry, Lloyd'd still have to mind his P's and Q's if he wanted to live long enough to get enough information to help the others and hopefully go through puberty again. Going through puberty he wasn't too keen on, but living sounded pretty nice in the grand scheme of things.

"Y'know, he's pretty clever." Genis mused out of the side of his mouth as they walked on. "Coming up with that all on his own that fast. I guess he isn't a seraphim for nothing."

Lloyd snorted. Yeah, the seraphim of death, emphasis on the 'death' part, and he had complete legal and apparently, MAGICAL power over the leader of one of the groups dead set on Cruxis' downfall.

Beautiful.

At first, Lloyd had only been a little bothered by it, he'd still been recovering from his mishap with Pronyma to have fully let the shock set in properly, but if this was more than just a custodial thing, who knew what kind of power Kratos really had. Could he even go so far as to making Lloyd tell him exactly where Colette was located, or the real leader behind the Renegades, or at the very worst, made Lloyd hand deliver Colette to the tower of salvation? Another cold shiver went up Lloyd's spine, and he clamped his mouth shut just in case he started to talk out loud. Kratos was already resourceful, the last thing he needed was help.

Sighing to himself, Lloyd shook his head once, furrowed his tapered chestnut eyebrows down against his eyes in a frown and adorned a determined glint in the corners of his cherrywood irises. If he was going to be under someone's supervision and control, he figured he should at least find out more about what kind of control it was so he could find a way out of it. After all, can't break a rule if you don't know what it is. So, very nonchalantly, Lloyd slowly sped up his cadence past the silver haired siblings until he was stride in stride with Kratos. He kept quiet for the first minute or two while he eyed Kratos, who seemed to know of his presence, though whether or not he cared was a different story entirely.

"So, uh, what exactly does that contract entail anyway?" He asked offhandedly, though after he'd said it, Lloyd had agreed that probably wasn't the best way to start up a conversation. However, he had to remind himself that this was Kratos, and the best way to talk with him was to cut straight to the point, no side chatter or pointless drivel needed.

"You were just told that." Kratos replied just as offhandedly, albeit his was in a much deeper tone. "I am given complete control over you legally and it is magically bonded as well."

"I know, but still, it's bugging me." Lloyd responded quickly, not about to let Kratos' attempt at brushing him off take effect. He needed to know and now, not later when Kratos felt like filling him in, if he did at all. Raising an eyebrow though his hair successfully hid it from view, the antiquated angelic being glanced over at Lloyd, who matched his gaze with his own and watched him in silence.

"Do you want a demonstration?"

"Demonstration? Uh, yeah, sure." Lloyd nodded once and fiddled with his scarf's plush tail. He wasn't sure what Kratos meant by 'demonstration', but if it was anything that would help him understand what was going on, he was all for it. Letting out a pointed sigh, Kratos stopped walking and turned so he was facing Lloyd head on.

"If I must." The angelic lord then looked to the other half pint half elves and beckoned them over with his hand. "You two should pay attention as well. I am only going to explain this once." Compelled out of curiosity, Raine and Genis quickly swarmed around him and eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and unyielding fascination at what lay in store. Lloyd was less than enthusiastic, but certain things were more important than the twinging feeling in the base of his stomach.

"There is a major difference between a request and an order." Kratos explained after he crossed his arms and let them rest against his broad chest. "One the subject can choose as to whether or not to do the requested action." He then glanced over at Lloyd, who dropped the scarf tail in reaction and stood waiting at the ready.

"Lloyd, when I ask you to do an action, you may either do the action or refrain." He instructed and then gestured to a pile of pine cones some local wood cutter had probably arranged into a nest out of boredom one day.

"Lloyd, would you pick up that pine cone?" Lloyd looked at the pine cone, then at Kratos and then back at the pine cone. What on earth did pine cones have to do with the powers bestowed upon Kratos? This sounded fishier than before and even then it had the distinct smell of anchovies. Regardless of what pine cones had to do with it, Lloyd didn't know what he was going to have to do when he got said pine cone, so just to be belligerent, he glared at the pine cone and didn't budge. After three minutes, Kratos sighed shallowly at Lloyd's insolence and turned back to face the others.

"There, I gave him a request and he decided not to pick up the pine cone."

"Now, the second, an order." Kratos glanced over his shoulder at Lloyd again and pointed at the pine cone again.

"Lloyd, pick up the pine cone."

"Aaaack!"

As if his body were attached to marionette strings, Lloyd felt his body being lifted up one leg at a time and try as he might, he couldn't stop himself. It was sort of like an 'out of body' experience, except he was in his body, except his body wasn't marching to the beat of a new drummer, but to the melody of a new orchestra.

While the others watched, or rather Kratos observed while the two half elves gaped like fish out of their streams, his limbs, joints and muscles paraded him over to the pile of pine cones and Lloyd watched in horror as his hand stretched out of its own accord, plucked a pine cone from the pile and held it aloft for Kratos to see.

"As you can see, his action was involuntary, but because of the magical contract, he had no choice, but to obey." The stoic seraphim commentated, though his tone sounded somewhat bored.

"Fascinating." Raine broke her gaze from her stationary pupil and peered up at Kratos, her eyes brimming with scholarly enthusiasm. "I've heard of binding spells that can be used on basic pack animals, but is this the same kind of spell?"

"Partially. Humans and humanoid species such as elves and half elves need a more concentrated version of that spell for it to work, but in essence, yes, that is correct."

"Hey, am I the only one freaked out over here?" Lloyd squalled while his arm hung in mid air like a park decoration. "Can I put my arm down now? I think there's a bird in that tree who thinks I'm a perch." However, as everyone was ignoring Lloyd at that point, his plea fell on deaf ears and the bird from the tree flew down, planted its tail feathers right on top of Lloyd's head and began to peck at his nose.

"Could I see another example please?" The puny professor requested, a gleam of her earlier ruin explosion glinting in the corner of her eye. "One that's more dramatic."

"Professor, what the hell!"

Running a hand through his hair, Kratos closed his eyes, thought in silence for a minute and then opened his eyes again.

"Lloyd, execute a cartwheel, stop midway, stand on your hands and stay there."

'Uh oh.'

"What- aaaahhh!" Instantly, Lloyd wished he was back to holding the pine cone. Before he could register what was going on, Lloyd's body had dropped the cone, backed up a few steps and dashed forward like his hair was on fire. He then lurched down while in his sprint, sank the pads of his hands into the soft muddy earth and flipped his legs aloft into the air, where he then stayed like a statue that had been turned topsy turvy during a windstorm.

Once Lloyd had finished executing the convoluted mess of a move, Kratos raised an eyebrow, Raine watched with utmost fascination and Genis applauded while he suppressed a hearty giggle worthy of a four year old. Lloyd glared back at the three of them, snorted angrily and thrashed around as best he could in an attempt to break loose of the magic's effect. However, it didn't work and all he did was tire himself out.

'Mind over matter, my ass.' He thought crankily as the blood drained from his body into to his face. He was stuck upside down for the professor's stupid curiosity streak, Genis was giggling at him, he was sure that behind that mask of indifference Kratos was amused as well and to make matters worse, the bird was back. It had been most ruffled after his sudden transition from standing on his feet to his hands and apparently had sworn an oath of vengeance against Lloyd. However, now instead of his nose, the bird pecked at the backs of his ankles and dive bombed his torso while making three kinds of racket.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Genis bounced up and down, Raine's excitement having spread to him. "Now make him walk up a tree on his hands and get an acorn!"

"How about you don't make him walk up a tree on his hands and get an acorn?" Lloyd squalled back, now trying to bat away the bird with his flailing legs, though it wasn't doing him much good. All his thrashing did was infuriate the bird more and made him look like a complete idiot. Fortunately for Lloyd, Kratos had maintained his sanity and shook his head once.

"That is enough. Lloyd, you may get down now."

"Oh thank Martel." Lloyd's feet swung down past his face and landed dully on the ground with a thud. Once he'd managed to plant his feet firmly on the floor, the traumatized tot yanked his torso back into an upright position, which then sent all the blood that had been located in his head rush to his feet. While trying to keep himself from fainting, Lloyd wiped his mud caked hands on his shirt and then grimaced at the small hand prints that coated his shirt like they were printed on the fabric. It was right then and there Lloyd promised himself he would never ask for such a demonstration regarding himself ever again. Sure, if he was curious about how perhaps the proper execution of an advanced technique or how a piece of machinery operated he would ask, but if it involved him as the actual demonstration dummy, he was out.

"That was a very enlightening demonstration." Raine mused gleefully while a stray leaf fluttered down onto her poncho and lodged itself in the hood. "Perhaps I could employ that degree of magic towards my students and one in particular's study habits."

Lloyd blanched. It didn't take much to figure out who exactly she was talking about, and it didn't bode well.

"Whoa, hey now, let's not jump to conclusions-"

"An interesting notion, but it is a closely guarded art known only to the elves." Kratos replied, ignoring Lloyd's interjection. "To learn it, you would need to find an elf that would be willing to part with such information-"

"Kratos, don't encourage her!" Lloyd spouted, but suddenly grew silent and tilted his head up so his ear was faced towards the sky. While he kept his head in that spot and didn't move a muscle, the diminished dual sword wielder frowned as if searching for something, though what he wasn't sure.

"... what was that?" He whispered in a soft hiss, narrowing his cherrywood eyes and unconsciously snaking his hands towards the hilt of his swords. Both half elves looked at each other and then turned their gaze back to Lloyd, their expressions both of genuine confusion.

"I didn't hear anything." Genis shook his head.

"Nor did I." Raine replied knowledgeably. "Perhaps all the blood rushed to your head is causing temporary auditory delusions."

"No.. there's something.. sorta far off. It's coming closer." Lloyd countered, though his attention was nowhere close to being on either half elf. He was too busy trying to figure out exactly what that odd sound in the distance could be.

"Yeah, there's someone there." He added, his eyes now set on the path just past the hill under a grove of particularly limp trees. "Just.. far awayish, yet not too much."

""Are you sure?" Genis asked again, periwinkle eyes riddled with concern and doubt. "If we couldn't, there's no way you could-"

"Quiet. Lloyd is right." Kratos interrupted commandingly, his hand firmly planted on the hilt of his sword as he scanned the nearby scenery for any signs of movement. He then gestured with a flick of his hand towards a close expanse of foliage and bushes, though he didn't look at any of the three.

"You three into the bushes, now."

Having figured the situation was dire if Kratos was actually telling them to hide, Genis and Raine quickly complied, ran behind the grove of plants and knelt down so the greenery disguised them from view.

Lloyd was not nearly that graceful.

"Oh no... no.. no, no, no.." He moaned as he tried stopping himself, but it was no use. His body, working of its own accord again, sped himself at a dead on sprint towards the foliage, launched himself into the air and Lloyd landed face first right into the thicket where the two halfling half elves were crouched. Once the feeling of earth meeting torso began to dissipate, Lloyd pried his face and body off the ground, his face covered with debris.

"Urgh, bleh, dirt and leaves in the mouth. Nasty." He groaned as he spit out a few leaves and sat up so he too was encased in his new greenish safe house. The thicket and shrubberies did create an effective veil, as he could see out but no one could see him, though all and all, the six year old swordsman had wished he hadn't landed in such an undignified manner. Plus, the bird that he had shooed off from before had apparently decided to perch in the bush he'd landed in, so said bird was flapping and fluttering around in an irritated dance. It wasn't loud, thankfully, but to say it wasn't annoying would have been a flat out lie.

"Oh, come on. Go away, you stupid bird." He batted at the bird with his hand, but the bird continued fluttering around his head and picked a particularly wriggly worm that turned out to be a piece of his hair.

"Anyone show up yet?" He asked after he rescued his hair from the bird and shooed it off.

"No. Not that I can see." Genis replied as he pulled his head out from behind the veil of foliage and removed a twig from his hair. "You sure you heard something?"

"Yeah, why do you keep asking me?" Lloyd wrinkled up his nose in confusion. Genis wasn't the type to keep asking things over and over again. That was more Lloyd's foray.

"Couldn't you hear it? It was really loud and clinky." Sighing incredulously, Genis sat back on his heels and rolled his eyes.

"I swear, you both are going crazy. I didn't hear anything and there's no one there-"

"Lord Kratos, so nice to see you again."

Both shrunken swordsman and miniature mage went silent when the sultry and saccharinely sweet voice of Pronyma chorused throughout the twilight stricken air. Raising an eyebrow, Lloyd peeked through the bushes, as did Genis, turned his head back to his friend and gave him a flat look.

"Crazy, huh?" He asked. Genis turned bright crimson.

".. every hypothesis has its pratfalls." He muttered and peered through the bushes. However, after a moment of staring, Genis gasped, clasped his hand over his mouth and fell onto his tailbone, his eyes the size of saucers.

"Lloyd, look!" The puny preschooler squealed in a stunned whisper and stuck a hand through the bush at where the sound of Pronyma's voice had come from. "She's.. she's wearing pants!" Lloyd regarded Genis, snorted in disbelief and then scooted onto his hands and knees so he was completely concealed by the shrubbery, but could actually see Kratos and Pronyma.

"What, are you serious? No way is she.." Lloyd began skeptically, but his voice fell short when he spotted Pronyma wearing, albeit skin tight and slick, pants. His jaw dropped like a windowsill that had been pulled too far and he gaped for the good part of half a minute before he shut his mouth and found his voice again.

"Good night Martel, she is." He breathed in shock, not sure what to think. Okay, he was now the size of a little kid and Pronyma was wearing pants. All that was needed was Zelos to swear off women and it would be official that the world was coming to an end. After the initial shock wore off, Lloyd's eyebrows creased down into a fierce frown and he gripped onto one of the branches in the bush for support.

"What the hell's she doing here?" Lloyd demanded suspiciously while he eyed her eyeing Kratos.

"Maybe she's keeping tabs on him or checking up on him." Genis replied as he too glared through the bush at Pronyma. "I've heard some companies have workers whose only job is to keep up on superiors to make sure they're doing their jobs correctly."

Lloyd snorted.

"Cruxis isn't a company, it's an evil order that's ruling the world."

"I know, but if you think about it, it is kinda like one. Just.. one with purple lightning."

Lloyd rubbed the side of his head with the first two knuckles on his right hand and peered back through the greenery, his eyes narrowing. Kratos just seemed to be standing there. Though, was it his imagination or did the air around Kratos seem to get thicker and more concentrated, like fog from ice that had been dumped in hot water made.

"Hey, is it just me, or was there a spike in energy that just kinda... shot out around Kratos like an energy coat?"

"Yeah, there was a definite mana spike because I think he's masking our mana with his own so our position isn't given away and..." Genis explained in a low whisper, but paused mid-sentence. "... wait... how'd you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"The spike of... oh, never mind." Lloyd shrugged at Genis' random outburst and peered back through the bushes at the pair of adults on the other side. Pronyma, though she was wearing slightly more than usual, still sported the same smug condescending smirk she always had and leaned most of her weight onto one leg as she waited for a response. Though regardless of the time she was wasting, she was enjoying the awkward silence that reverberated through the air.

Kratos didn't look nearly as amused. In fact, he just looked ill at the sight of her.

"Pronyma, I should have known. What do you want? I'm very busy." The powerful angelic lord folded his arms and eyed her with a glare that would have rendered an eggbear lifeless from forty meters away.

"Good afternoon to you too, Lord Kratos." Pronyma replied silkily, her voice sending a chill up Lloyd's spine though he was hiding in a bush. "Talking to yourself in the middle of the woods must be very time consuming indeed. You are alone, are you not?"

"I am. Though I fail to see exactly what that has to do with your duties as a Grand Cardinal." Kratos responded icily. "Shouldn't you be torturing someone else?"

"My, my. I've barely said a word and you're already spiky towards me. With that attitude, you really must have missed me."

"With every ray of judgment so far."

"Ah, still petulant and sour as always, I see." The leader of the five Grand Cardinals cooed teasingly and shifted her weight onto her other side. Kratos gave her a flat look.

"I'm surprised you still can, given that pound of makeup on your eyelids." The antiquated swordsman replied curtly. "Or perhaps that is merely the excess residue from your century long devotion to mascara."

Lloyd snorted and quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hands so he wouldn't make a sound. However, he quickly relinquished his grip on his face as he had to breathe, and tried to stay as quiet as he could.

"Hmph, I'll have you know I'm as young as ever." Pronyma scoffed in indignation. "Besides, half elven women age like a fine brandy."

"For you to look young, it would take a fine amount of brandy indeed."

Pronyma's cheeks turned an angry color of red, which could almost be seen from underneath all that foundation, but instead of exploding, she laughed bitterly to the side and rested her hands on her hips.

"As much as I just adore our playful banter, I have special business to attend to and cannot afford to waste time." She smiled simperingly, though it was obvious she had as much contempt for him as he did for her. Kratos didn't look impressed.

"I figured it had to be. Why else would you be wearing pants?" The seraphim swordmaster responded flatly. "And to think all these years I believed you incapable."

"I am here on Lord Yggdrasill's orders to inquire about your latest actions to be specific." Pronyma added, completely ignoring Kratos deadpan reply, and as a result also missing the stifled laughing from inside the thicket.

"And just why does he need to know that?"

"I do not nose in the methods of Lord Yggdrasill." The green haired harlot replied defensively. "I merely carry out his wishes."

Kratos raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"We both know that is not true, and while I do not see how this is relevant to anything that Cruxis is doing, if it will make you leave, I will tell you."

From inside the bush, Lloyd's insides suddenly curdled and he felt sick to his stomach. This didn't look too good for any of them, including Kratos, so what was he gonna tell her-

"I've been walking around to get some fresh air, stopped by Meltokio for an errand, went to Sybak for some supplies and was blinded by you in the middle of a forest."

"And that's all?"

"Yes." Kratos nodded once, turned on his heel and, left hand on the hilt of his sword, started down the path away from Pronyma and the thicket secretly filled with school kids.

"I'm not done yet. I still have more questions for you." Pronyma squawked after him, her stiletto heels clicking against themselves as she walked. Pausing, Kratos turned back, observed her for a moment and folded his arms against his chest again.

"Ah, of course. The thing that had sleeves and goes over your head is called a shirt. I suggest you look into it."

Pronyma's face turned an angry shade of purple.

"I know what a shirt is!"

"And yet here you are."

"Are you going to tell me what I need to know or not?"

"Given my track record, I believe you know the answer to that." The angelic lord retorted flatly. "Now if you're through, go find someone else to irritate."

Pronyma really did look like she wanted to rage and explode into a thousand tiny cardinal pieces, but in the end all she did was nod once and bow.

"... as you wish, Lord Kratos." Pronyma murmured through clenched teeth, her fury rising past the canopy of the trees. "I will leave you for now, but I will be back with more questions, make no mistake." She then stalked away, pressed a button on the side of her metallic shoulder halo and warped away.

Once Pronyma looked like she was truly gone for good, or rather, for a good time, Lloyd watched Kratos lower the obvious concentration of his mana, looked out of the corner of his eye towards the thicket where they all meticulously hid and flicked his wrist for them to emerge.

"You may come out now." He stated firmly, the tightness in his voice adding to the impression that the short a time conversing with Pronyma was enough to last him well over ten years at least. Genis and Raine left the bushes as quickly as they could, though Raine had to go back because the strap of Genis' overalls had gotten snagged in a nearby thorn bush and he couldn't wriggle free. However, Lloyd merely stood up, turned his eyes on Kratos and stared with avid fascination.

Kratos stared back.

Lloyd stared harder.

"What is it you find so interesting?" The angelic swordsman finally inquired, his expression hinting he was tired of Lloyd staring at him like a ogling fish. Lloyd scrutinized him a tad more before his features lit up like an electric parade float and he grinned from ear to ear.

"That was AWESOME!" The tiny boy bounded out of the thicket, jumped over a stray root and made his way straight for Kratos. "Man, I knew you were deadpan, but I didn't know you could use that as a weapon! I've gotta learn how to do that so next time I see her I'll be ready and-"

"-yeowch!"

In his excitement, he hadn't really been paying attention and a razor sharp thorn nicked the side of his left leg just below the knee.

"Lloyd, are you alright?" The Professor asked as Lloyd bent down and ran his thumb over his now bleeding leg.

"Yeah, ow, I'm fine." He responded as he rubbed at it in an attempt to get the bleeding to cease. "Just cut myself, that's all. It's not too bad."

"Show me."

Lloyd looked up in time to see Kratos kneel on one knee and, shrugging, angled his leg so Kratos could afford a better view. Kratos examined the shallow cut, frowned and reached into one of his pockets.

"See, it's not too bad, just a little scrape with some blood." Lloyd explained, but he didn't think Kratos was listening. Instead of just telling him to walk it off or healing with first aid, the elder seraphim retrieved what looked like a thin, flat glass cartridge and held it next to the tear in Lloyd's skin. As if by a divine force, the blood that had leaked down the side of Lloyd's slender calf was sucked into the clear compartment in the center until the window of sorts that had been clear shone bright red. Nodding once, the angelic swordsman then healed the leg, and stood back up as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened whatsoever.

"What'd you just do?" Lloyd asked, examining his leg for any traces of something that had been implanted into his leg.

"I merely used a device that took a sample of the tissue and blood and checked how deep your wound was." Kratos replied coolly, pocketing the strange contraption he'd used to sample some of Lloyd's blood. "It was as you said. The abrasion is merely a shallow one, neither life threatening or in danger of a serious infection." Getting back up from where he stood, Lloyd caught a glimpse of his leg, frowned and gazed up at Kratos again.

"Why didn't you believe me the first time when I told you?"

Kratos snorted.

"The track record in the accuracy of your observations merits skepticism."

"Hey!"

* * *

"Gah, I'm bored." Zelos lifted his arm from overtop his face where it had been resting and poked at the tip of his nose. For the past several hours, all four of the newly reunited Tethe'allan members had been sitting inside Regal's office and while the others seemed to be enjoying the peace, Zelos was bored out of his skull. Presea had taken to sharpening her axe, Sheena had been repairing one of her cards that had sustained a minor tear and Regal sat his desk, working on what looked like a bunny slope of paperwork that had been piled into his inbox. Zelos had taken to the couch and had flopped there, but after staring at his arm for about two hours or so, he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Hey, old man." He pivoted his head so he stared at Regal's desk, albeit he was looking at it from an upside down angle.

" Zelos, even when I was my natural self I was not old." Regal replied curtly, though he didn't take his eyes off the paperwork.

"Minor details." The charismatic chosen waved his hand back and forth in a dismissive manner. "You said before you're actually allergic to melon. That's a joke, right?"

"No, I am allergic to it."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, it makes my throat itch."

Zelos gaped at him.

"How can you live without it? Melon, along with freshwater tuna, is one of the best foods in the world!" The atomic acolyte bounded from the couch and gestured wildly as he couldn't believe Regal was deprived of such amenities. Shifting his neck into a more comfortable position, the puny president glanced up from his paperwork at Zelos, sighed and went back to it.

"As I prefer to avoid allergic reactions and wishing I could claw at the inside of my throat like a cat on a scratching post, I've learned to live without it." Regal responded, flipping another piece of paper into the outbox and picking up one of the royal blue fountain pens at his side. Meanwhile, Zelos was picturing his life without the sweet taste of fresh melon and the expression he had adorned was downright pitiable.

"Man.. a world without melon. Perish the thought." He shuddered while rubbing the sides of his arms like he'd caught a chill. After the goose bumps on his arms had subsided and no one in the room was paying attention to him anymore, Zelos stood like a statue in the middle of the room, deep in thought.

"... I want melon." He finally said out loud, though to no one in particular. Striding to the door, Zelos took a step out and then back in again.

"I'm going out. You guys in?"

"You can do as you wish." Regal replied, now about a third of the way through his stack of forms. "I'm going to finish up some things I have on my desk and procure some proper cuffs for myself, not to mention making preparations for our next move against Cruxis."

"You wanna stay in on a night like this?" Zelos wrinkled up his nose in disdain for working when there was fun to be had.

"Regardless of the weather or my personal preferences, I have a lot of things to which I must attend. George did a fine job of tending to the company during my absence, but I cannot neglect my duties any longer."

"And what's your point?"

"I was in prison. It's not like I could commute. I have to do my job before I can think of indulging on recreational activities."

"So you're going to stay here in an office filling out paperwork instead of having fun?" The second grade would be casanova gasped in horror. "Geez, even when you're a kid, you're an old man. Well, whatever. You can work out all the little details if it floats your boat. While you're all doing that, I'm gonna go live it up a bit."

"You two hunnies coming?"

"Thank you, but I shall pass for now." Presea replied with her usual practically flat affect, her axe still in hand. "I.. want to go visit Alicia."

"Okay, fair enough." Zelos nodded strangely soberly. He might have been a lazy, worthless philanderer, but even lazy worthless philanderers could understand that visiting her sister's grave was something she needed to do. So, instead of pushing his invitation, Zelos turned to Sheena and gestured at the door.

"What about you, my formerly curvaceous, but now flat as the sidewalk hunny?"

"Stop calling me that!" Sheena snapped, but then raised an eyebrow at him. "... what are you going to do?"

"Enjoy the sights, of course!" Zelos declared jubilantly, puffing out what slender chest he had. "Maybe walk around the boardwalk, make a sand castle, flirt with some hunnies..."

"And I want a melon snow cone."

Sheena stared at him.

"... you want a melon snow cone."

"Yep."

"Why do you want a snow cone?"

"It's melon syrup and ice in a cone." The seven year old snow cone enthusiast replied simply. "What's not to love?" He then gestured at the door again and looked at her expectantly.

So, you coming or not?"

Eyeing him for a minute, Sheena let out a sigh, pocketed her cards and stood up.

"... I don't suppose I have anything else to do. Alright, I'll go-"

"Aha, an accomplice!" Wasting no time, Zelos latched an arm around Sheena's shoulders and steered her towards the door. As expected, Sheena didn't take to his method of direction very well. In fact, if it hadn't been for his arm blocking his midsection, she would have nailed him right in the stomach with her elbow.

"What the hell are you-"

"Snow cones here we come!" Zelos bellowed loudly over her objections like a captain who had just set sail and, without another word, dragged Sheena out of the room.

* * *

Lloyd was antsy. Not just antsy out of boredom, like he grew to be so in class most of his scholarly career, but genuinely antsy to the point he was growing irritable and fidgety. Within the hour after the too close for Lloyd's taste encounter with Pronyma, Kratos had announced they were stopping for the night. Apparently all three of them, especially Lloyd, hadn't exactly looked the most energetic and any more movement would've be the breaking point for them. Lloyd snorted. He felt just fine, and while he couldn't personally speak for either half elf, he got a sinking suspicion that there was more at work here than just them being tired. Though, when he'd asked about it, Kratos as usual had denied any such cause and immediately set to work building a camp. Lloyd had tried to help, but his assistance when it came to creating a campfire had been cut short when Genis prematurely lit the wood with a fireball and almost set the small swordsman's hair on fire.

After that, all three of them had been detained to spectating as Kratos properly attended to the camp. Lloyd didn't like sitting by watching other people work, but although the slender swordsman didn't like to admit it, chances were Kratos had been able to complete the makeshift site faster by himself. That had been at least four to five hours ago, or at least it felt like it. Now, what once was a scene of scurrying bustling energy had resigned itself for dull, lifeless quiet that echoed through Lloyd's ears like a chorus of silent bells.

And the quiet made him antsy.

'Man, this is just too quiet. Genis and the Professor conked out hours ago, and Kratos isn't back yet from whatever secret thing he's doing now.' Lloyd sighed to himself as he pulled at the rogue strand of hair that dangled down between his eyes. 'Just what the heck is he doing that he couldn't stay nearby?' As soon as they all had finished their meal of meat stew, Kratos had excused himself, saying he had 'matters to attend to'. Lloyd had tried asking more about what those matters were, but Kratos brushed him off and strode off by himself like the enigma he was.

Lloyd sighed. Some spy he was. All this time he'd been right next to Kratos and he'd barely gotten a smidgen of information about himself, let alone the silent swordmaster. After all that, Lloyd knew next to nothing about the seraph, except he followed rules of 'chival... chiv.. al... rish or something, he could fix machinery and he had adamantite for polishing or forging or something else. What, he wasn't sure, but how the hell was he supposed to tell the others from what he could gather, Kratos was going to make a pretty piece of jewelry? Lloyd snorted and flopped his chin into the palm of his left hand. There wasn't a chance in Niflheim they'd either 'a', believe him or 'b', let him spy on anyone ever again.

'They're counting on me.' Lloyd sighed bitterly at the fire as it licked the flames into the air. 'And all I'm doing is sitting around staring at a stupid fire."

Finally, his last bit of patience broke under the strain and Lloyd bounded to his feet.

'I can't sit here any more.' He murmured at himself while he rubbed his stiff shoulder and stretched out. 'I've got to stretch my legs before I go crazy. Kratos didn't say I had to stay here specifically, so I can come and go as I please...' Lloyd took a glance outside the nearby ring that edged the perimeter of the campsite and swallowed hard.

'I hope.'

Swallowing his apprehension on what might happen so it lumped up in his stomach rather than his throat, Lloyd scrunched up his nose, clamped his eyelids shut and dove for the other side of the campsite marker. However, instead of a retaliation of some form or another, Lloyd collided with the soft layer of topsoil just beyond the log Raine was leaning against in her sleep. Blinking in surprise, Lloyd peeled himself out of the squishy dirt and felt his face again, just in case he'd been sent into a sensation of numbness. No, he could feel the pads of his fingers press into his cheeks, so he hadn't lost the sensations of touch in his body. Once he finished checking that, Lloyd quickly got up from where he'd landed and began a diagnostic check of everything he could think of. However, everything felt pretty much the same as before he'd left the campsite the interior.

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. That hadn't been what he'd been expecting. He'd thought that perhaps he'd be fried on the spot like a potato or maybe zapped into submission, but.. nothing? As much as he was happy he hadn't been attacked by an invisible force, Lloyd had to admit it was a bit of a letdown.

'That was weird.' Lloyd scratched the side of his temple with his forefinger and shrugged. Oh well, he wasn't a crispy critter, why should he question it?

'At least now I know I'll be able to leave this spot if I need to. That's good to know.' Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Lloyd trotted down the dirt path that stretched beyond their tiny base of sleepy operations, the chilly night air stinging his cheeks with icy kisses. Instead of making him tired like he'd hoped the walk would, Lloyd couldn't have felt more awake, his mind racing back and forth while the cool wind brushed against his face with each step he took.

'So far, the only things I've managed to gather so far are Pronyma likes little kids to do her bidding, which is just plain creepier than all hell, and apparently Kratos and she don't get along very well.' He reviewed his mental file of new information while his hands were still lodged in the warm cotton pockets of his shorts. 'While that's actually pretty funny, I don't see how that'll help me in the grand scheme of things.' Exhaling gently, Lloyd turned his cherrywood eyes up towards the star stained sky and let his shoulders go limp against his torso.

'Though, it was impressive when Kratos completely brushed off Pronyma like she was an lurid horsefly.' Lloyd smirked while he walked down the beaten old trail like so many before him.

'It was kinda cool... y'know... for him.' He added, making sure to add in a shrug for posterity's sake. As he marched mutely down the trail, a glint of greenish light caught the corner of Lloyd's eye, and the tiny swordsman sidestepped to the right, shot his hands towards the hilt of his swords and waited for whatever it had been to strike. However, whatever it had been made no such move, so all he ended up doing was standing there like an idiot.

After five minutes, Lloyd sighed, let go of the swords at his hips and craned his neck out towards where the light had come from. Over off to the side of the path, the dimmed light shone through the evening darkness to reveal a figure sitting upon a fallen log, his shadow faintly outlined by the greenish grey tint of the light near him. Raising an eyebrow, Lloyd's eyes narrowed as he squinted through the darkness and the petite idealist took a step closer towards an old pine tree nearby so he could see better.

'Is that Kratos?' Lloyd asked himself curiously while he observed the silvery shadow and ducked behind the trunk of the tree for cover. Upon closer inspection, he confirmed that it was indeed Kratos who was producing said light, no one else had that spiky a silhouette, though whether or not it was actually he was actually doing Lloyd wasn't positive. From where he was, the seraph swordmaster looked to be staring at an odd contraption that Lloyd had never seen before.

The weird object looked like two pieces of shiny flooring that had been welded together with some sort of iron so one piece stood straight up and the other at a ninety degree angle that the elder angel rested on his lap. Lloyd scratched the side of his face. What kind of funky machine needed to have one part pointed at the sky while the other just sat like a tray on his lap? Also, just what exactly was Kratos doing over there? He seemed to be really focused on whatever he was doing, because his eyes never once strayed from the glowing panel, while rapidly pressing buttons on the other. Just watching him made Lloyd's head hurt. Still, it did pique the short boy's growing fascination.

'What's he up to sitting all by himself in the shadows?' Lloyd retracted his head from around the side of the tree and glared at the ground near his feet. 'Plus, what the hell is that weird, glowy, foldy thing?' Peering around the tree trunk, Lloyd locked his cherrywood eyes on Kratos and let out a soft breath.

'He seems pretty into whatever it is he's doing. I wonder if it's work for Cruxis.' The dual sword wielding shrimp observed from behind his tree. 'This could be a perfect opportunity. Maybe if I'm really quiet, he won't notice I'm here-'

"Lloyd, what are you doing?"

"Aack." Lloyd choked in air and his insides ran dry. Groaning to himself, Lloyd slowly turned his eyes up at the face of the antiquated angelic lord and his shoulders slumped when he met Kratos' own pair staring back at him. So much for his plan of being stealthy. Kratos was looking straight at him, and no matter he wanted to disappear and become the tree at that moment, Lloyd knew it was no use. He'd been caught outright.

Craning his neck around the trunk of the tree, Lloyd caught a glimpse of the elder angel, who hadn't broken his gaze from the young observer, grinned sheepishly and waved.

"Uh, hi." He stepped out from behind the tree and rubbed the back of his head with the palm of his hand.

"Hello." Kratos replied curtly, his face as unreadable as ever. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

Lloyd staved off turning slightly grey. He needed an excuse. Anything would work... he just had to think of something quick.

"Uh, the professor and Genis fell asleep and I, er, got bored so I went for a walk."

Okay, the truth. Well, sort of the truth. It wasn't a lie exactly, but somehow it felt like he was lying by letting on only a little of what was the entirety of the situation. Lloyd silently snickered. That sounded like something Kratos would do. Though, that did make him think.

Did Kratos feel like this all the time too?

"Ah." The seraphim swordmaster replied dismissively instead of pursuing the line of questioning and turned his eyes away from the boy back to the contraption that still was perched precariously on his lap. Looking fairly annoyed that he'd been blown off so soon, Lloyd steeled his resolve and trotted over towards Kratos. If he was going to not pay attention to what was happening, Lloyd was going to get as much information out of him as he could before Kratos realized exactly what he had said. It was a plan filled with more holes than a piece of swiss cheese that had been attacked with a drill, but he'd seen it work before. After all, that's how Genis found out what he was getting from the older boy for his birthday the year before. So, it was at least worth a shot.

"So what are you doing?" Lloyd inquired, his eyes full of intrigue as he moved closer to the older man who sat on the decaying log. "What's that thing on your lap?"

"This is a portable personal computer, a rudimentary piece of magitechnology." Kratos responded absently, his concentration still on the device before him.

"And what does that do?" The slender six year old pried a little deeper, having sat on the log right next to Kratos and swinging his legs back and forth as his feet didn't touch the ground.

"It accesses the main Derris Core system via a series of routing networks and procures what information I desire."

"... could I have that in a language that I actually have a chance of understanding?"

Kratos sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and pointed momentarily to the lit screen on the vertical piece of the machine.

"I can access the Cruxis base' information and it will tell me what I want to know." He explained exasperatedly and shifted his attention back to the main screen of the computer. Lloyd's eyes glinted.

"Really?" Lloyd instantly perked up and craned his neck over so he could get a better glimpse of what was projected on the screen of the personal computer. Talk about a perfect opportunity. Having something like that in his grasp, Lloyd'd be able to do all sorts of good with the information he'd get, and maybe even he'd be able to find a weakness in the formidable structure of Cruxis.

"Hey, let me see that-" Before Lloyd even got a chance to graze one of the keys with the pad of his finger, Kratos swiftly shifted the computer out of his reach and gave the precocious pip squeak a glare that would have wilted even the cheeriest of daffodils.

"Lloyd, you are not going to use this." He stated flatly, eyeing the boy with a tremendous amount of scrutiny. "And even if on the chance I lost all my better judgment and decided to let you use it, one, you don't know how to navigate the controls-"

"Hey, I can learn!" Lloyd interjected hotly.

"-and two, you wouldn't be able to read it." Kratos continued as if he'd never been interrupted. "It's in angelic."

Lloyd opened his mouth to protest, but lost his train of irate thought, as it was a run away to begin with, and shut it again, realizing he had been rendered speechless. In his excitement over an information outlet of the huge database of Cruxis, he hadn't even considered that possibility he wouldn't be able to read it. Even though the Church of Martel was a huge aspect of both worlds' daily life, not many people had the option to learn how to read the angelic scripts and texts that dwelled within the confines of the old temples and those who had the option rarely ever bothered. It wasn't used in day to day life, so people tended to opt towards other things to keep them busy, like growing food and fending off desians. It had never even occurred to him that Cruxis would have done that when most could only read plain script. He'd only ever been given a slight overview of it by the professor before Raine and he'd accidentally fallen asleep halfway through, so he probably knew even less than most people.

Lloyd had always figured that the only people who had bothered to learn how to read and write in the Angelic language were just old stuffy members of the church and Colette, but Cruxis was the origin of the Church of Martel, so that made perfect sense they would use Angelic for everything. Annoying, frustrating and infuriating yeah, but it made sense enough. Lloyd groaned and flopped his chin into the palm of his hand. Man, what a bump in the road. He had potentially the key to Cruxis' downfall, and he couldn't read it. Then again, Cruxis probably didn't get to be an all powerful entity that controlled both worlds by playing by the rules.

"That's cheating." Lloyd muttered crankily from just over his palm at the older angel beside him. "I call foul play."

"If you wish to call prudence foul play, I suppose you are correct." Kratos replied nonchalantly, pressing one of the buttons on the right hand side so the computer's screen flashed again.

"Yeah, well, you just got off lucky that I can't read that because I fell asleep that one time and... hey, that's me!" Bounding up from where he sat, Lloyd knelt down on the flat of the decaying tree's bark and peered over Kratos' shoulder so he too stared at the screen. Just as he'd expected, that was his own face, albeit his former teenage form, plastered in the left hand side of the screen, though it was obvious Lloyd had no idea he was being photographed at the time. The fact he was looking away and he had a face full of food at the time said that much. Directly adjacent from his picture, the short swordsman spotted a huge amount of tiny text that went as far down as the screen would allow.

"What am I doing on there?" He asked, squinting through the dark so his eyes would adjust to the concentration of light. "And why'd they take a picture of me eating?"

"I was conducting some research about what you had mentioned earlier, which then led me to your profile on the databank." The elder seraphim replied, his gaze having left the screen to settle on the head of the precocious pixie. "And your eating habits are a sight that must been seen to be believed."

"Hey!" Lloyd squalled indignantly, sat back on his heels and scratched the side of his head. "Wait, profile?"

"Yes, you and each of your companions have a page dedicated on the Derris Core system." Kratos explained simply. "Cruxis complies information and notes about each and every single one of its adversaries in order to calculate their strengths and weaknesses accordingly."

"That's not unsettling at all." Lloyd snorted sarcastically, folding his arms against his chest. "Yeesh, whaddyou guys do, watch us while we sleep?"

"At times."

"... what?"

"I wasn't serious."

'How the hell could you tell?' The former teenage rebel countered hotly under his breath. 'It's like Regal telling a joke, but only ten times worse.'

"Er... yeah, sure then." Lloyd nodded, still taken aback. "Did you find anything yet about that blue thing?"

"Not yet. I'm still waiting for the test results to come back." Kratos responded tiredly, the picture of Lloyd long since gone from the screen's display. Lloyd blinked.

"Test results? ... wait a minute, is that what you took that bit of my blood for?"

"It had to be run through the database if you sought an answer."

Instantly, a twinge of disgust crawled up Lloyd's spine and a feeling of intense dread washed over him like he'd been dumped in a river. If that was the case, that meant that Cruxis now had his blood. Lloyd shivered. They had all the time and resources available, who knew what they could do what a piece of one Lloyd Irving. What were they gonna do with it? He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to ever find out. Meanwhile, the ancient swordsman glanced over at him, let out a sigh and part of his auburn hair fell into his eyes like a crimson curtain.

"Don't look so horrified. Your blood was already in the database." Kratos responded flatly. "I am merely cross referencing it."

"Still doesn't make me feel any better." Lloyd murmured under his breath, the idea of them having his blood still leaving him rattled. He remained silent for five minutes, as did Kratos next to him, until he couldn't stand it anymore. None of this made any sense and it was driving him practically up the wall. He had to find out something, anything to quell his nerves.

"Why are you helping me out so much?" The irked boy demanded sharply, his cherrywood set in a fierce glare. "That isn't a very enemy-like thing to do y'know and don't give me that 'chivalrish' line. If you think I bought that line for very long, think again."

"Lloyd, I believed I answered that before and it's 'chivalry', not 'chivalrish'."

"No, you just brushed it off like you always do! I want to know why you're doing all of this!" Lloyd stood up and pointed at Kratos. "You're hiding something and I'm going to find out!" Kratos, who hadn't moved from where he sat, merely glanced over at Lloyd's outstretched gesture, scoffed in disdain and looked to the sky, Lloyd's antics not having impressed him much.

For the first time Lloyd could ever remember since he'd met the seraph, Kratos looked tired. Not winded or even sleepy, but actually tired, like he was dedicating all his energy towards some unknown force and it was draining it all away. As he stood there like a prostrating scarecrow, Lloyd began to feel a little ridiculous. Here he was actually getting maybe somewhere with the whole 'blue' thing, but now all he was doing was searching for other information too soon. Did he screw up his whole stealthy operation? Or maybe he just pushed one too many of the older man's buttons and now he wasn't going to get any sort of answer-

"Just because I serve the alternate faction that you oppose does not mean I hold any personal disdain for you."

Lloyd's arm dropped like a pendulum and gaped at Kratos, who hadn't taken his gaze away from the indigo sky.

"... you don't?"

Kratos looked back at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Is it that hard to believe?"

Turning a light shade of pink, Lloyd shook his head and turned his eyes towards the ground. His mind raced as fast as it could, playing and replaying what Kratos had said over and over again until it was fully ingrained into his psyche.

"So... you're saying that you weren't one of the four seraphim and an agent of Cruxis..." The prepubescent boy peered up from the dirt and locked eyes with Kratos.

"We'd be friends?"

The angel hesitated for a moment, looked at Lloyd for just as long and shut the top piece of the computer so it latched with the bottom with a click.

"... If the circumstances were different, perhaps. However, they are not. I am your enemy, as you are to whom I serve, and there is very little to alter that truth." Kratos stated brusquely as he stood up while holding the flat pad of metal held in one hand and the other down by his side.

Lloyd's shoulders slumped and his face fell. That wasn't the answer he'd been hoping for. What he would have really like he knew wasn't in the cards, but still. Letting out a breath, Lloyd swallowed his disappointment, telling himself he'd take what he could get. That was at least a start.

"... oh, okay." He murmured quietly. Kratos, however, didn't seem to share Lloyd's disappointment, or if he did, he was one of the best actors that ever lived. His face betrayed nothing of what he may or may not have been thinking and he simply looked down the path towards where the other two members of their band were sleeping.

"It's late. You should rest." The older seraph said quietly, another spike of auburn hair obscuring his face from Lloyd's already limited view.

"But I'm not tired." He countered. Truthfully he was exhausted, but he didn't feel like sleeping right then. There was too much on his mind to go to sleep that easily.

"Tell that to the circles under your eyes. Let's get moving." Kratos stepped over the log and then onto the trail. "Besides, is it really that wise to leave both of your unconscious and incapacitated compatriots alone with an emissary of Cruxis?"

"... alright." Lloyd relented , though he still wanted to protest, and began walking back towards the spot they'd chosen for the night. Kratos lingered behind for a few feet before he too began to walk as well, Lloyd could hear the slight footfalls behind him, though he was much slower than he usually was.

"Hey, Kratos?" Lloyd turned around and gazed back at the elder man, who looked at him in turn and waited expectantly. Making sure he never blinked once, Lloyd steeled his resolve and took a big breath.

"I know I'm not supposed to, because you betrayed us and all, and don't get the idea that I've forgiven you for that, but... I still kinda... would like to think of you as a friend." He then turned tail and took off like a shot down the path, leaving Kratos and his words behind.

* * *

Kratos walked by himself down the path in a slow steady cadence, the night air breezing by through the crimson spikes of the powerful angel's hair. He glanced from side to side coolly as he walked, though his face remained as unemotional as ever. The crickets were chirping, the air was cool, yet not so much that it merited a desire for a coat and the night sky was clear and bright. The whole scene would have been fairly relaxing had his mind not been lingering on the words Lloyd had spouted before he took off.

'Friends' he'd said... that sounded nice, but he couldn't be friends and help Lloyd to the best of his abilities at the same time. Not now, anyway. His position as an angel was far too important as an asset to Lloyd's cause, even if Lloyd had no clue about that. He had to keep Lloyd as far away as possible in order to keep him safe. In fact, he didn't really understand himself why he'd kept the paper of Lloyd's in the first place. Logically, it made no sense for him to hold onto it, as Lloyd was still mentally the same as before and he did not need for Kratos to carry it for him. However, there was something in the depths of his chest, something warm and numbing that made it impossible for him to part with it.

'Lingering parental attachment, probably.' Kratos sighed as he walked on down the path, Lloyd long since disappeared from view. He'd not felt that for quite a long time, as he'd had nothing of Lloyd's, save the one tiny shoe he'd found that day by the cliffs, so perhaps it was the fact this was Lloyd's that made it so unbelievably difficult to give away seamlessly. Brushing his hair out of his face, though it always quickly came back into place, the ancient swordmaster focused his eyes on the path in front of him and strode in silence, though his mind was anything but.

By the time Kratos returned to the makeshift campsite, Lloyd had already picked out a choice spot near the fire and was dozing off, the ever rebelling strand of hair lilting over his nose. Shaking his head at Lloyd's ability to relax so easily no matter where he was, Kratos placed himself against the trunk of a gnarled tree and flipped open the top of his database computer. The light flickered on as the contraption sprang to life and a window on the far corner of the screen popped up and flashed yellow right above the curved angelic script.

'Lloyd's results must be completed.' The antiquated seraphim mused to himself as he clicked on the window with a flick. As soon as the flick registered through the access module, a much larger window emerged from no where and plastered itself right in the middle of the screen. Inside the window's mainframes, a series of charts, script and pictures loaded into intricate places about the window, each with a label that said 'Lloyd' in the common language's alphabet. After what seemed like a century and a half of waiting even for him, Kratos began reading all of the findings, his eyes narrowed in on every minute detail. Once he had finished, Kratos frowned, scrolled up to the top of the page and began to read all of it again. However, after the third read, the full message of the results set in, which caused Kratos' shoulders to stiffen and his heart to sink.

An angel. Lloyd was turning into an angel. It was all there. The strange fluctuations in mana Lloyd had been experiencing, like when he'd gotten angry and erupted mana all over the lab room, to the enhanced hearing and senses, to even to a new mana chart, which was colored blue and indigo, classifying him as a 'fledgling angel' or 'cherub'. Stifling a groan of bereavement, the ancient angel rested his forehead in his hand and rubbed his temples.

Lloyd was turning into an angel, and it was his fault. Hell, it had to be. Sure, he could blame it all on the exsphere or perhaps whatever had shrunken his son to such a tender age, but in the end, it just came back to a genetic predisposition over which Lloyd have no control. Kratos had hoped Lloyd's angelic blood wouldn't have awoken at all and he would forever remain a normal human boy, not plagued with the burden of an angel, but looking at the charts and results, that chance was long gone. Though, he knew he was just trying to fool himself. Due to Kratos' angelic genetics coupled with the advanced exsphere's evolving nature, not to mention the massive exposure to the exsphere's effects while in vitro, Lloyd never stood a chance. He was destined to become an angelic being from the start, it was only a matter of time.

In fact, the fact that Lloyd hadn't become one long before was a miracle in itself. Or perhaps he'd always been one, yet had not shown any of the signs. Frowning, Kratos shifted his eyes back towards the screen once again and narrowed in on the first piece of data.

'Regardless, I need to analyze this.' the angelic lord told himself sternly. 'Lloyd's very life may hang in the balance and something within these texts may prove to be of great use.'

'Hm, he's shown signs of advanced hearing, eyesight and senses in general, though he hasn't lost his sense of taste, touch or his voice. Most definitely not his voice.' Kratos mused wryly while he read down the page for the forth time. 'Most likely he did not have any of those symptoms because he perhaps bypassed that thanks to the exsphere's advanced nature. That, or perhaps he wasn't paying attention.' Pausing, Kratos raised an eyebrow at himself, snorted and kept reading.

'No, if Lloyd couldn't taste food, he would have said so and probably very vociferously.'

'According to the report, his angelic abilities were awakening before hand systematically with each use of his exsphere, but for some reason they've erupted tenfold over the past month or so.' Kratos sat back against the tree and folded his arms against his chest. 'I wonder if that had anything to do with his sudden shift in age. Fully evolved angels can control their age at will, so perhaps his appearance and such are the result of mishandled exsphere use.' If that was the case, then with perhaps a lesson or two in mana stabilization and management, with some practice Lloyd would be able to return back to his original form.

'Though, Lloyd hasn't fully evolved yet nor does that explain the changes in his friend's statures either. According to this he is...' Kratos read further down the page and blanched slightly. '.. two thirds of the way done.' He was already that strong and he still had a ways to go? Even by Kratos' high perfectionist like standards, that was very impressive. After he finished that section, he went onto the chromatic mana map that determined what comprised the boy's mana. Just like Lloyd had described earlier, it was a lovely shade of deep royal blue flecked with dots and dashes of purple here and there about the map.

'This must have been to what Lloyd was referring.' The seraphim swordmaster thought as he perused the chart. No wonder the intern at the testing center hadn't known what it was. Only angels had this color due to their evolved and therefore mutated mana, and that choice information was kept securely under wraps from the public eye. If he had known, he would have been in the employ of Cruxis and ONLY Cruxis and Lloyd would've been in Yggdrasill's clutches right now. However, the color itself didn't throw Kratos for a loop as much as the brilliant shade of deep royal blue that made up the majority of the chart did. If the blood chart had been entirely turquoise and light blue then the transformation would have been complete, but Lloyd still had shades of purple lingering in his genetic chromatic scale, so the idea of manipulating his mana like that by himself, even by accident, was impossible.

'This must have come from some other outside source, whatever that may be.' The auburn angel deduced tersely. 'Though, what I do know is if anyone from Cruxis becomes aware of what Lloyd is becoming, regardless of what form he has taken, he will be in a tremendous amount of danger. The notion that fully evolved angel with more potential than most already in Cruxis would never sit well with Yggdrasill and he must not find out.'

'I'll make sure of it.'

While that was all good and well that Kratos now knew what was happening to Lloyd's mana, though not what he was now a six year old, another problem, much more pertinent than the last, arose and began haunting the angelic lord's mind with a vengeance.

'How am I going to explain to Lloyd that he's become a member of the race of the very beings he's been fighting against all this time without sending him into a state of hysteria?' Kratos asked himself warily while he ran a hand through his spikes of hair. 'I am aware Lloyd is very fervent on his stance that 'a person is still them regardless of what they are' and that will not change his personality, but he needs to know that his exsphere is transforming him physically into a new life form. However, if I am too careless in my wording, it could spark a never ending array of questions that have answers he will not want to accept. I need to tread carefully.'

'Why not tell him the REAL truth about why he's becoming an angel?' A voice in the back of his head piped up. 'He has a right to know after all.'

'He does not need to know all of the details. He is turning into an angel via his exsphere. That is all he needs to know.' Kratos replied smoothly to the voice that sounded much like his own.

'And is that how you plan on explaining it?' The voice, Kratos probably figured it was his conscience, argued back. 'You know he's far too curious to just accept that flat out. And didn't he ask you about his tests and explain what happened to him? While you may be part of the enemy faction and he probably won't admit it to himself, he still trusts you. You've still got that.'

'I can't tell him all the... details. He wouldn't understand. He wouldn't understand why I am a member of Cruxis and I'm doing what I am.'

'Do YOU understand why you're still a member of Cruxis and doing what you are?'

That one left Kratos cold. There was a time he thought he knew why he was in Cruxis, yet that was so long ago and the reasons had been blurred so far away that all that was keeping him was blind loyalty to a former friend who had been dead ever since his sister was slaughtered in front of his eyes. Then, after he'd come back from his seven year rebellion against Yggdrasill's twisted future, it was because he thought everything was meaningless. His world had been torn apart, the color ripped from the sky so it was just a monochrome blur, and he no longer had any reasons for wanting to stop Mithos. So now, what was his reason for still staying in Cruxis?

Kratos exhaled sharply. He knew why he was still affiliated with Cruxis. Lloyd needed someone who could help him from the inside and while Yuan could've been an option, at this point Kratos wouldn't have trusted the blue haired half elf as far as he could punt him. There were far too many things brewing in Yuan's mind and whatever they were Kratos was sure he wouldn't like them very much. So that's why he was in Cruxis, for Lloyd's sake, only Lloyd couldn't know that.

'By revealing my true affiliation with him, I would be placing him in harm's way, both physically as well as emotionally.' Kratos stated firmly, part of his curtain of auburn hair drifting into his face like a veil.

'He's already far in harm's way, and whose are you more concerned about, his emotional safety or your own?'

Kratos closed his eyes, leaned more of his weight against the trunk of the tree and let out a long, deep breath. That was also part of it, wasn't it? While he knew the news would be shocking to Lloyd that he did in fact have a biological father who was still alive and even more, sitting across the campgrounds from him against a tree, what he found to be more unsettling was how the boy would react. Finding out that his father was also one of the leading seraphim in the world dominating organization that he was so desperately fighting to destroy didn't sound like something that Lloyd would take particularly well. Kratos didn't usually allow anything to cause him to be anxious, but he couldn't prevent it from eating at him. He knew he deserved it, deserved to be rejected flat out, in fact he practically expected it, but still, if Lloyd managed to get through the entire ordeal and eventually take down Mithos, if all went as planned, the fight for Origin's seal would be much easier for Lloyd to undergo if he did not know he was battling his father. Lloyd was the type to let his feelings get in the way of what had to be done and Kratos was not going to give him an opportunity to waver on something so vital to his success.

On the other hand, Lloyd did seem to be incredibly fascinated about his actual parentage, as he'd spent a good twenty minutes talking about what he'd learned about his parents from the testing facility. Most would have found the experience incredibly traumatizing, but he was absolutely thrilled that he'd learned something new about his parents, even if it had been fairly mundane. It was clear the boy was absolutely enthralled with anything of his parents he could grasp, so what was Kratos supposed to do? Should he deny Lloyd what the boy truly wanted, his family back? Could Kratos even be considered as such after all he'd done in the name of Cruxis?

'I need to think this out carefully before I do something that cannot be undone.' The elder angel opened his eyes and observed the moon that shone brightly in the sky. 'Perhaps some further observation would help me in my choice. Then I will decide on what I will reveal and what I will not.'

'Think long and hard. You only have one son. Don't squander it.' The voice in the back of his mind whispered softly before it faded into the darkness of night and fell silent once more. Letting out a heavy sigh, Kratos broke his gaze at the moon for the magitechnological screen. He was about to turn off the thing entirely when another window popped out of nowhere and flashed up and down in bright, irritatingly cheery colors of orange and lime green. Kratos' first instinct was to get rid of it with one decisive click, but at the last minute, he pulled it up at full screen and took a look.

'Hm? That's strange.' Kratos' eyes narrowed as he read the text on the monitor. 'There's a warning sign flashing about the summon spirit shell that's protecting the Great Seed. That's never happened before.' His scientific intrigue piqued, Kratos read on.

"Weakened'. That can't be right.' The angelic swordsman murmured, noting the status of the Seed shield. 'The protection around the Great Seed is bound together by the pacts of the summon spirits. How could it have weakened so drastically in such a short expanse of-'

Looking up from his monitor, the elder angel closed his eyes, silently groaned and turned his attention back to the screen.

'Lloyd and his friends. Wonderful.' Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose. One of them was a summoner, wasn't she? Yes, she was, he was there when she made the pact with Undine. He'd helped a little with that one himself, but was only one. Why were they going around making pacts with all the summon spirits? Sheena didn't seem to be the collector type, so there was probably more motivation than just because they could. Or perhaps the reason they were making pacts wasn't solely for Sheena's use, but so Yggdrasill could no longer bind the spirits at his will. Glaring at the screen, he kept on reading until he found something that really caught his attention, the seed protection checklist.

There was only one pact that was being used to protect the Great Seed and keep the worlds in check while they vied for the small supply of mana it exuded. If Lloyd and his friends made the pact with final summon spirit Luna, the protection around the Great Seed would be lost and the unbridled seed would then have the opportunity to go out of control. His concern was also backed up with a 94 percentage towards the likelihood of catastrophe if the Great Seed's protection withered report that also graced the monitor with its presence.

'Just what are they planning, destroying the protection around the great seed?' Kratos asked himself disgustedly as he stared at the Derris Core system calculations. 'Do they actually think that by doing that they'll save the world from Yggdrasill? Whose inane idea was this?'

'Somehow, I don't think this was Lloyd's doing. It's too well planned out, too meticulous. Whoever made this has obviously had quite some time to do their research, albeit it not being complete. Still, whoever invented this idea is of little consequence. If Lloyd and his friends are involved, it can only spell well meant, but catastrophic results if put into operation.'

'Does Yggdrasill know about this?' Kratos scrolled over to the section that had all of the decrees Mithos had made for the week and for some reason, all he had was 'maintain activities as usual, no major threats detected.' up for that week. Kratos frowned. Either Mithos had no idea about what was about to happen, he was too preoccupied with something else entirely, or he simply didn't care. Well, whatever his reason, the auburn seraphim saw an opportunity that he had no choice but to take, regardless of what Yggdrasill had decreed for that expanse of time.

If Kratos let them make the last pact and the protection around the great seed was destroyed, there was no telling what would occur. The worst case scenario would be that the tree would inadvertently germinate in a perverse form of itself and ravage whatever world it sprouted in, thus consuming it and the world opposite it. Also, if the world was destroyed and Lloyd along with it, all of Kratos' efforts would be in vain and Yggdrasill would continue his hellish reign. Perhaps if he headed them off at the last pact and talked some sense into all of them, maybe the whole ordeal could be averted. It was a long shot, but he had to at least try.

Whether or not Lloyd's friends had managed to piece themselves together at that particular point in time he wasn't sure, but he had no doubt in his mind that they would and as soon as they were mostly assembled, with the exception of Raine, Genis and Lloyd, the rest of his friends would no doubt go straight to the Tower of Mana so the worlds would be 'saved', or so they were led to believe.

Besides, he was four thousand years old, he was used to waiting.

Shutting the two pieces of metal together with one swift motion, Kratos stood up and quickly tucked the device into his wingpack. After he made sure it was firmly inside, the ageless angel crossed the camp to where Lloyd was sprawled and nudged his shoulder.

"Lloyd."

"Huh?" Lloyd peeked an eye open, yawned groggily and sat up. "Whassamatter?"

"Get your things and wake the half elves. We're leaving immediately." Kratos told him briefly while he gathered what little he had left out.

"What for? Where're we going?" The petite six year old asked while rubbing his eye with his fist. Kratos looked back at him, flipped the clasp on his wingpack shut and doused the already dying embers of what used to be a fire.

"The Tower of Mana."

* * *

"And then we arrived in Hima." Colette chirped merrily, her puppets swishing around on their dowels. Yuan raised an eyebrow and pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd been sitting for the past five hours while the cherubim chosen regaled him with the epic and felt ridden tales of the Journey of Regeneration through her eyes and it had been quite an experience. He wasn't really sure what to make of the experience per se, or whether or not he was exasperated or mildly amused at her display, but all in all, he did find her story rather intriguing, though he could have done without the puppets. In all his years as an agent of Cruxis and the leader of the rebellion force against said evil angelic organization, he had never heard an account of events through the eyes of a chosen before. After all, any of the chosens who had not been executed via the renegades and had actually made it to the Tower of Salvation had all lost their souls and it wasn't exactly easy to converse with them afterward. That was especially true when the transfer of Martel's backfired and the chosens consequently died. So, all in all, this was truly a rare experience.

However, he couldn't help but get the feeling that Colette embellished on some parts more than others during her storytelling. For instance, Yuan wholeheartedly believed Kvar's death hadn't exactly been painless, but he found the idea of Kratos stabbing and slashing him in a rage, shouting curses of something to do with 'burning in hell' and kicking his corpse several times for good measure a little hard to swallow. However, Lloyd turning him into a corpse pinata, he could buy. Ah well, youth always did exaggerate.

Sighing to himself, Yuan rested his cheek into his left hand and blew some of his cerulean bangs out of his eyes. While he did find this whole story to be mildly entertaining, why the puppets? He hadn't watched a puppet show since he was the tender age of seven himself, and that had been much longer than he would have liked to admit. Plus, he hadn't been a huge fan of them when he was that age, so why was he watching one now? Maybe in his old age, he'd grown less hardhearted, though hopefully not as much as most who would put up with a puppet show were. Hopefully. He'd have to keep an eye on that.

Then it hit him. He was sitting at his desk watching a puppet show done by a shrunken five year old chosen with the common sense of a grapefruit because he had merely said that he had wanted to know about the Journey of Regeneration, but not HOW exactly he was told that. Yuan groaned.

'This is my fault. I should be more specific next time. lest I sit through another story where the main character is make out of scrap sewing material.' The age old angel grunted into his hand tiredly, the black soft cotton of his glove brushed against his face.

'Speaking of which.. how many of these things does she have?' The chosen kept pulling puppet after puppet out of the bag that was bigger than she was and the question just begged to be asked before it burst. Glancing up from his glove, the renegade angel caught sight of both the Lloyd and Kratos puppets leave the inn at Hima, which left the Colette puppet all alone, and bobbing up and done in curiosity over where they had gone.

"Chosen.. er, Colette, I don't mean to interrupt, but I have a question of you." Yuan locked eyes with her, the kindergarden chosen's own pair barely peeking over the stage.

"Huh? Oh, um, sure. What is it?" Colette paused her flailing puppetty depiction of herself and stood up straight so she could see him better, staring up at him with her sapphire blue eyes.

"Just how many of these puppets do you have?"

"I have one of everyone we met." The acute acolyte beamed cheerily, her cheeks pink and healthy.

"Really?" Yuan hadn't been expecting that. Maybe the people who had made an impact on her, but everyone? "That's very.. extensive."

"No, no, it's nothing like that." Colette waved her hands back and forth, her cheeks growing rosier. "I just wanted to remember everyone well."

"Is there anyone you don't have?"

"Actually... yeah." The cheery cherub nodded while she looked off to the side. Yuan raised an eyebrow. Why was she acting embarrassed all of a sudden?

"Who's that?" He asked, his intrigue temporarily getting the better of him. Colette remained silent for a moment or two before she turned up her eyes at him again and her shoulders slumped.

"I don't have a Goddess Martel puppet." She admitted, chagrin dripping through her voice. "I know it's kinda strange that I don't have one, since she's so important and all, but I don't know what she looks like. It's kinda embarrassing that I'm the Chosen and even I don't know what she looks like."

Yuan blinked.

"You don't?"

"Nope. They don't have any really accurate pictures of her or anything in any of the church books. I know there are some artwork depicting her, but those are from so long ago, most of the detail had worn off and I'm worried I do a bad job of it."

Yuan's eyebrows furrowed and he sank back in his chair, his mind swirling with thoughts. Colette watched him for the good part of three minutes before she went back to picking up some stray puppets that had fallen out of the bag while she waited for him to regain his attention and therefore pay attention to her story. After what seemed like an eon had gone by, Yuan broke his staring contest with his desk and glanced up at Colette, who was ready and merely waiting for him to give the signal for her to begin again.

"...I see." The blue haired renegade commander finally said quietly, his chin still perched in the crease of his hand. "...I could... probably.. help you with that."

"You could?" Colette's face beamed with excited glee as she bounced up and down happily. "Really? Thanks, Yuan! You really know what she looks like?"

".. I do."

"That'd be great!" The pint sized chosen clapped her hands together twice and picked up both her Lloyd and Colette puppets from their resting place. "Now I don't need to worry about not having everyone!"

"Now then, back to the story!" She then cleared out her high pitched voice and held both puppets aloft.

"Hey, Colette, look what I found." The Lloyd puppet held out his puffed out felt arm and bounced up and down. Instead of a normal response like the other characters, the Colette puppet merely floated over to the Lloyd one and tapped its arm against the red felt sleeve of the latter. Yuan would have found it rather odd, but as she was just about to explain the Tower of Salvation incident, he gathered she had no voice and was writing on his hand, thus making the story that more accurate. Wait... was he commentating on a puppet show? Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose. He was losing it.

"'What is it?'" The Lloyd puppet looked down at the arm he'd gestured to first and shrugged, or as well as a puppet could shrug that is. "I dunno, some assassin who tried to kill Kratos and who just got wailed on dropped it. It's got some weird letters carved into it, but I can't read it. Isn't it really pretty and smooth like a marble? I wonder if Dad knows what it is..."

Colette went on with her tangent for a while, but Yuan didn't hear it. His ears and mind were too focused on what she had just said, or rather, what she had just told him had happened in the wee hours of the morning in that small mountain village.

Ring.

A ring from Hima.

A ring from Hima that an assassin had dropped in Hima.

A ring from Hima that HE had dropped in Hima.

A ring from Hima that he had dropped in Hima that LLOYD had picked up in Hima.

Like lightning, the age old half elf stood up from his chair abruptly, startling Colette and sending the Colette puppet flying off its dowel onto the floor.

"Colette, where is that ring now?" Yuan asked seriously, all of his attention focused on the petite puppeteer.

"Huh?" Colette blinked several times before the cogs in her mind began to turn again from their sudden halt in movement at his abrupt ascension. "Um, it's still with Lloyd. He thought it was pretty and was gonna have Altessa look at it-" However, Yuan wasn't paying any more attention. Instead, he rifled through the drawer of his desk hurriedly tossing papers and supplies out onto the desk with great speed.

"Where's that comlink?" He muttered to himself darkly, his eyes narrowed in on the drawer of his desk. Eventually, he found the small sphere that had lodged itself in the far corner of his desk drawer, one that had a piece of opaque tape plastered on the side with a cursive 'Z'.

"Why are you looking for a comlink?" Colette confusedly asked from her spot behind her fort like stage.

"I need to make a call to someone right now." Yuan replied, the comlink clutched tightly in his strangling grasp. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Without another word, the antiquated angelic renegade strode from his office, stalked down the hallway and ducked into an alcove that he was positive Colette could not see from his office doorway.

'Zelos will know where Lloyd is. And I don't care where that red clad boy is or who he's with, I'm getting my ring back.' The determined renegade commander turned on the comlink that flashed 'hello' in a bright and chipper array of lights and pressed the 'call' button. As he waited for the signal to go through, Yuan eyed the comlink, then the ceiling and scowled.

'He'd BETTER not be smudging it.'

* * *

**Genis: Alright, another chapter down!**

**Me: ...**

**Genis: Still zombified?**

**Me: ... so... so awesome...**

**Genis: Yep, still zombified. Any hints on what you're going to do next or perhaps reveal certain tidbits of information?**

**Me: ... feb... bruary...**

**Genis: ... I guess later then.**

**Zelos: Hey, brat. Author still out of it?**

**Genis: Yeah, she won't stop staring at that monitor.**

**Zelos: Ah, I wouldn't worry about that much. When you REALLY have to worry about is when the initial effect wears off and-**

**Me: I DON'T WANNA HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL FEBRUARY TO SEE THE NEXT EPISODE! AFTER ALL THAT ACTION AND PLOT BUILDUP, NOT TO MENTION WHAT THEY JUST LANDED ON EVERYONE IN THE LAST MINUTE, THEY CAN'T LEAVE IT LIKE THAT! I CALL SHENANIGANS!**

**Zelos: Oop, shock wore off. Run dude! Please review!**

**Me: SHENANIGANS I SAY!**


	21. Mana Tower Mayhem

**Author's Note: Hello everyone, welcome to my watery soaked lair, I mean fic I'm not a super villain what are you talking about. Due to a fairly busy schedule, this chapter took much longer than I intended. Thankfully though, it's done, so I'm rejoicing. **

**Anywho, thanks to all of you who read, alerted, favorited and major gratitude to silent romantic, freakyanimegal, Kiomori, AngelofaWhiteNight, RadonMax, Jet Set Yoyo, ThePurpleRose, Insane Marth fangirl, Destiny's Light and ImJustNutty for your reviews. Thank you all so much!**

**Ah, disclaimers. I don't own the rights to ToS, last I checked anyway... which was about a minute ago. *sigh***

**Genis: You always keep checking, don't you?**

**Me: Hey, I can dream. Oh, that reminds me. A while back, the official website for the OVA hosted a ToS character popularity contest for all of the characters, not just the playable ones, but everyone good and bad, minor and main and listed the top 15. I'll add the results after the chapter, so stay tuned. Also, I learned something from the third episode omake. **

**Genis: What's that?**

**Me: Apparently, Tethe'alla has internet.**

**And Amazon.**

**And Ebay.**

**And if too much gald is spent on the inter-webs, the power goes out and hilarity ensues.**

Chapter Twenty One: Mana Tower Mayhem

"Yuuummmmm." Zelos purred through a mouthful of green syrup and ice as he sat on a bench in the starlight of Altamira. The sun had long since disappeared beneath the ocean's horizon, and while most children his physical age had already gone to bed, Zelos wasn't about to let a little thing like sleep get in the way of his good time. So there he sat, snowcone in hand and a petite ninja next to him, who looked thoroughly put out.

"Zelos, they're snow cones, not buried treasure." Sheena commented sardonically as she peered at him out of the corner of her eye. Zelos sighed and shook his head. She obviously had no clue what she was missing.

"You've obviously never enjoyed a proper snow cone. 'Tis tasty. I'll admit it's not as good as actual melon, but it isn't half bad." Zelos mused sagely before he bit into the snowcone again. It had been a while since he'd had melon, or even imitation melon, and he was going to enjoy every moment of it. If that made Sheena roll her eyes at him as a result, so be it, he was going to eat his snowcone.

"Right, whatever you say." The slim summoner waved off his pontification. "So, what are we gonna do now?"

"I'm gonna eat my snowcone. What'd you think?"

"Not that, you ninny. I mean our next move against Cruxis."

"Oh. I think we should pick up where we left off." The sneaky second grader replied while he licked the side of the snowcone before syrup leaked onto his hand. "Getting the last pact and what not. The only one left is Luna, so that's good for us, cruddy for Yggdrasill. All we need to do now is head there and get it done."

"That's what I was thinking." Sheena nodded, her chin perched in her palm. "But, how are we gonna get the other four there too?"

"Hadn't thought of that." Zelos mused, tapping his snowcone against his face like one would a pencil when thinking during a test. "The Brat and the Professor are still MIA, so that can't be helped right now, Colette's keeping Blue boy busy and Bud's tailing the old dude, so it's really more of an issue with Lloyd and distracting the 'almighty smiter of anything that Yggdrasill doesn't like' more than anything else."

"Kratos' a pretty big obstacle, though." The acute assassin pointed out. "How are we gonna pull that off?"

"Aw hell, I dunno." Zelos shrugged exasperatedly. Why the hell was she making him do all the thinking? "Make it up as we go."

"We kinda need a better plan than just making it up!" Sheena retorted hotly, her puff bristling.

"I'll just pull something out of my pocket or something." Zelos waved off her comment with the hand that wasn't holding the paper snowcone. "Stop fretting so much, yeesh." Sheena opened her mouth to say something probably snarky, but at the last minute she shut it again and looked off to the side. After that, a thick curtain of silence settled between the pair and neither said a word. Sheena just looked off into space and Zelos ate his snowcone in strained tranquility.

After about five minutes, Zelos began to fidget. He didn't like it when it was quiet when he was around people, it just felt too isolated. He liked his private time enough, but when he was with people he wanted to hear some type of noise. Without noise, he just felt like he wasn't really there, like he was only looking through a window..

Stealing a peek out of the corner of his eye, the future casanova nonchalantly scooted over towards the red clad ninja inch by inch, and casually snaked an arm around her shoulder, which in turn caused Sheena to glance at his arm and then at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Want some?" Zelos held out the snowcone under Sheena's nose. "It tastes like green."

"_BREE BREE BREE_"

The high pitched beeping of the comlink in Zelos' pocket nearly sent them both on the moon, Zelos' jumping almost resulted in Sheena getting the snowcone up her nose. Once he registered what was calling to him, the shrimpy seven year old felt his pocket in his jacket and frowned. It wasn't there. Feeling around again, Zelos realized he'd placed one of the comlinks in his pants pocket and it was beeping its wrath through the cotton folds into the night air. His scarlet eyebrows furrowed, Zelos looked over to Sheena with the most sobering expression he could muster.

"Sheena. My pants are telling me something."

Sheena gave him a dirty look and punched his arm.

"Like that's the first time that's happened." Sheena responded disgustedly. "You're seven now. Could you at least act like it?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Ugh, never mind." The aggravated assassin shook her head and rolled her eyes, though her cheeks were bright pink. Shrugging, Zelos fished a hand into his pocket and retrieved the glowing comlink.

'Oh crud, it's Yuan.' He grimaced, the 'Y' written on some brown tape on the side of the comlink glowing faintly from the internal light. 'Talk about bad timing.'

"Who is it?" Sheena asked curiously as she craned her neck over so she could see. Normally, Zelos would have loved it if she did that, or any female for that matter, but this could potentially blow his spy cover and that had to take temporary precedence over his libido.

"Uh, I'm not sure." Zelos quickly stashed it back into his pocket and bounded to his feet. "I'll be right back." After he readjusted his coat, the youthful triple agent turned and thrust his snowcone into Sheena's unsuspecting hands.

"Keep my snow cone company, mmkay?" He grinned, gave a two fingered salute and sprinted as fast as he could. Once he was far enough away from any potential witnesses, Zelos dove into an alcove and flicked the comlink on with his thumb.

"Hey Yuan, what's new in the renegade regions?" Zelos cordially spouted as he leaned against a nearby barrel in the alley.

"I don't have time for pleasantries. Something very pertinent has come up and I need your assistance." Yuan's voice chorused through the speaker, his tone much more constricted and tenser than when they'd spoken last. Zelos raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"What happened, Colette trip over the cord of your hairdryer?"

"Zelos, I am in a very foul mood right now. Do NOT test my patience with your usual asinine antics."

"Yeesh, what're you all pissy up about?" The redheaded chosen winced dramatically, though he had no audience. "Alright, alright, what d'ya need?"

"I need to know where Lloyd is right now."

"And what makes you think I know where Lloyd is?" Zelos challenged lightheartedly. In exchange, the other side of the speaker snorted in irritation.

"Because you have an uncanny ability to find out just about anything, regardless of whether or not you were supposed to be aware of it." Yuan replied flatly. "Don't waste time acting like you're a fool. We both know you're not."

Zelos went silent. While he hated to admit it, he as well as Yuan knew that the whole happy go lucky persona he had was merely a charade, no more no less. So, he supposed there wasn't any point at keeping it a secret now. Sighing, the seven year old swordsman ran a hand through his scarlet tresses and held the comlink closer to his face.

"... why do you need to know?" He asked quietly, his demeanor the complete opposite from a second before, one much more serious and sobering.

"He has something of mine and I need it back immediately."

"And just what might that be?"

"That's not your concern. All I need from you is his location."

"Sorry, but I don't know where he is." Zelos answered truthfully. Lloyd could have been all the way in Flanoir by now and he wouldn't have known. It wasn't likely he was all that far, but Yuan didn't need to know that.

"Then contact him." The cerulean haired seraphim responded impatiently. "If you were able to talk to him while in different locations, you still have that ability. So use it and find out where he is."

Zelos' eyes narrowed and his grip on the comlink tightened.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I will make it my personal mission in life to make sure you never go through adolescence. I'll let your imagination fill in the details."

"... yeesh, talk about a threat. Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do."

"You do that. Call me when you have Lloyd's location." With that, the comlink terminated its call and turned off, leaving Zelos successfully alone in the alley. Snorting aggravatedly to himself, the chosen casanova stashed the communicator into one pocket and retrieved the one marked with an 'L'.

'What a crotchety old geezer." Zelos muttered bitterly while he turned over the comlink in his palm so the speaker faced him. "What could Lloyd possibly have that Yuan could want so badly? A secret formula for hair gel?' Shrugging to himself, the loyalty free chosen pressed the comlink call button and waited as it dialed.

'Sorry Bud, you lose on this one.' He thought while he waited for the dial tone to go through. 'I like all of me where it is, thanks a bin.' Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the signal went through and Zelos waited impatiently for someone to pick up. Six rings later, the comlink still hadn't been answered and the redhead's patience was dying.

'Ring... ring... ring... Bud, pick up the stupid comlink already... ring...'

After the tenth ring, the comlink emitted a click and a barrage of static radiated from the other side.

"... hello?" Lloyd's boyish voice called through the speaker like he'd stuck out his hat on a stick in a war zone to see if it got shot at.

"Yo Bud, how's it hanging?" Zelos jubilantly called into the speaker, his jovial persona back in full swing.

"What now?"

Zelos' jaw dropped and he stared at the communicator, completely flabbergasted. 'What now?'? What kind of crappy greeting was that?

"Is that any way to talk to the wise and divine, not to mention utterly gorgeous Zelos Wilder?" He demanded, his tone highly offended and he sniffled for added effect.

"Yep."

"... Lloyd, that was seriously harsh, man."

"Lloyd, why are you talking to your hand?" A second voice, one much younger called out from the speaker, though it was much more muffled.

"I'm talking to the others through this thing." Lloyd replied to the voice. Zelos gaped at the communicator with shock. Lloyd really had lost the little common sense he barely managed to hold onto.

'The hell is he doing? Does he want to get his cover blown-'

"L-lemme use the c-communicator!" The second voice practically shrieked and from the sound of the rustling fabric, Zelos guessed whoever it belonged to had mauled Lloyd's sleeve.

"Uh, sure if you want." Lloyd replied warily and handed over the comlink so the second person was holding it.

"P-presea? Is that you? Are you there?" The voice warbled through the speaker awkwardly, practically tripping over his own sentence. Zelos smirked. Only one person would be that interested in the welfare of the pink haired sailor and lose the ability to speak like a normal person in the process. So Lloyd had found Genis then. Good for him.

"Nope, you're in the vocal presence of the wonderful and gorgeous chosen one, short stuff." The smug swordsman grinned silkily into the speaker.

"Oh, it's just Zelos." The enthusiasm in Genis' voice dropped like a rock. "Never mind. Lloyd you can have it back now." Zelos frowned. He knew that Presea held a soft spot in the heart of the miniature mage, but that was just plain insulting.

"And a 'screw you' to you too, Brat." He retorted dejectedly. "So, Bud my man, how's it been going with the old fart? He's not around, is he?"

"He is, but not where he could hear us. It's been kinda weird." Lloyd replied.

Zelos raised an eyebrow.

"Weird? Weird how? Show tunes weren't involved, were they?"

"... show tunes?"

"Er, another time Bud. Anyway, what the hell did you mean by 'weird'? Spill dude." Sitting on the barrel that he'd previously been leaning against, the scarlet headed chosen listened to the tales his chestnut counterpart regaled him with, his eyebrow growing higher and higher with each story. By the time Lloyd finished, his eyebrow had almost managed to migrate to a whole new climate on his head.

"So lemme get this straight." Zelos held his head while he tried to make heads or tails of what Lloyd had just described. "Not only does Pronyma know about our new sizing, which means now that everyone in Cruxis probably got the memo, the old dude now has complete and total custody over you and that includes mind control?"

"Yep, that's pretty much it."

Lost of all speech, Zelos stared at the comlink and then smacked himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand.

"...Zelos? You there?"

"My goddess you're an idiot."

"What?"

"Do you have any idea what that contract could do to you if it fell into the wrong hands?"

"Yeah, I know, bad stuff, we covered all of what that happened during that stupid demonstration, but here's the thing. I have no clue on how to get that contract away from him and, judging from the way Kratos' been acting, he's not gonna just hand it over."

"Great, that's freakin' peachy." Zelos groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Stay on your guard dude and make sure he keeps that form with him at all times. Anyone else gets that thing and it'll spell forty kinds of trouble for you. So now that that's been said, where the hell are you guys?"

"Uh, right now?" Lloyd paused and then laughed awkwardly. "We're uh, traveling."

"Traveling?"

"Yeah. See, Kratos for some weird reason decided about an hour ago that we needed to go to the Tower of Mana. However, he needed to go through the rift between worlds and he couldn't carry all three of us."

"Three? So you found the Ultra Gorgeous Cool Beauty too?" The supercilious swordsman asked curiously. If he had, that meant everyone had been located and they didn't to go on any more wild goose chases...

... well, not about THAT anyway.

"Yep, she'd say hi, but she's reading a book she snitched from a bookcase." Lloyd reported matter of factly.

"Bookcase? But I thought you said you were traveling."

"We are, I'm getting to that. Because Kratos couldn't carry all of us, he took out this collapsible shed thing from his wingpack, told all of us to get inside and then stuffed it back inside his wingpack. So, that's how we're getting there."

"And you DID? Are you stupid or something?"

"Hey, it's not like I had much of a choice!" The diminutive dual wielder defended hotly. "Because of that stupid contract, I went into this room face first!"

"Right, forgot for a minute." The chosen casanova sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. "Still, that was a dumb move to make, being stuffed away by an enemy, and in a freaking shed no less."

"... yeah, I guess. But Kratos did say he'd let us out as soon as we get there."

"... how comforting." Zelos said grimly, disdain written all over his face. "So you said you all are going to the Tower of Mana? What are you going there for?"

"I'm not quite sure." Lloyd sighed. "I tried asking, but Kratos didn't tell me anything. All he said was that there was something that he needed to attend to and that was all I needed to know." Sighing, Zelos leaned against the wall and massaged his temple with his free hand. He had a very good feeling why Kratos was headed there, but as Lloyd was being his normally astute self, which was about as astute as a brick, he had to figure out a way to calmly breach the subject so he got the gist of what he should expect.

"... oh crud."

"What?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"Dude, that's where the last summon spirit is! Kratos must've figured out what we're up to and he's going to stop everyone from getting the last pact!" Zelos exclaimed with all the emotion he could muster.

Okay, it wasn't so calm, but it got the point across well enough.

"Are you serious?" The boy at the other end of the speaker gasped in utmost horror. "What does the last summon spirit have to do with this and why would he-"

"Because he's working for EVIL! What part of 'Angel of Death' do you not get?" The second grade swordsman interjected fiercely. "If the last pact is made, they'll lose the protection around the Great Seed and it'll be a major blow to their system, remember? Seriously Bud, do you pay any attention at all?"

"Hey, I've been a little busy with my 'whole body under mind control' thing. What's your excuse?" Lloyd shot back indignantly. Internally groaning, Zelos ran his fingers through his hair another time. Maybe he overdid it a bit. No sense in riling up Lloyd more than he needed riled, after all.

"Alright, alright, I get it." He relented, quickly diffusing the situation. "Arguing won't get us anywhere, so I'll talk to the others, we found Pops and the little sailor by the way, and I'll see what I can do to help. If I can rally the troops, we'll be right there."

"Thanks, Zelos. I owe you one." Lloyd replied warmly, letting out a breath of relief. Pausing, Zelos regarded the comlink for a minute and smiled. He could practically see that goofy grin that Lloyd always sported radiating through the comlink and he couldn't help that it was contagious.

"No problem Bud." Zelos replied with a grin, though for some reason that reminded him of something he'd done only hours before. "Also, I've got a little somethin' for you."

The other side of the comlink went dead silent.

"... you do?" The shrimpy six year old asked skeptically. "What is it?"

"Yep, call it a gift of sorts. I'll give it to you when we meet up at the Tower of Mana."

".. uh, okay then. Then I'll see you at the Tower."

"Right."

"Tell Presea I said 'hi'!" Genis' final bid at saying hello to Presea was the last thing Zelos heard before the comlink clicked off, leaving Zelos again alone.

'Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd... sweet guy, but good night Martel it wouldn't hurt him to pay attention when stuff's important.' The turncoat magic knight sighed condescendingly and retrieved the Renegade comlink while he put the other way at the same time. Lloyd really needed to pay attention if he was going to get through all of this alive. He dusted off the comlink, which for some odd reason had managed to sustain a layer of pink lint on its surface, pushed the call button and waited for Yuan to pick up. It took all of two rings before the receiver picked up and Zelos was once again connected to the Renegade commander's comlink.

"Hey, it's me." Zelos said lazily, though he knew Yuan already knew who it was. Zelos was the only one who used that particular line and chances were pretty good Yuan hadn't left the spot when he'd first made the call.

"Did you find out where Lloyd is?" Yuan inquired sharply.

"Yeah, but there's some good news and bad news."

"What might that be?"

"Good news, I found out Lloyd is on his way to the Tower of Mana. Bad news, Kratos is taking him there."

"WHAT?" The half elf commandant burst to the point that Zelos drew back from the comlink as the power behind the sound made him cross-eyed.

"Yeah, he found Bud in the forest after you guys botched that ambush and Lloyd's been tailing him ever since." The chosen added as he smoothed out his now rumpled hair. The speaker on the other side of the connection groaned in frustration.

"... wonderful."

"Kinda puts a damper on your little 'use as leverage' plan, don't it?"

"... don't sound so amused when you say that."

"Can't help it, dude. It's too funny to suppress."

"Try." The seraphim responded, vocally glaring at him. "Zelos, I think that's all I need from you for now." Zelos stared at the comlink and raised an eyebrow of disbelief.

"That's it?" He repeated, not sure he heard correctly. 'that's it'? That was never just it.

"I believe so."

"You sure you don't need me at the Tower or anything?"

"... actually, that might not be a bad idea. The sooner the worlds are separated the better." Yuan mused. "Get to the Tower as soon as you can and bring the others, specifically the summoner. I will bring the other chosen as well so she can rejoin you. Until then."

The comlink shut it self off again, though Zelos paid it no notice. Instead, he slid off the barrel he sat up, all the way mentally punching himself. He'd almost gotten off the hook from anymore chores, but NO, he had to open his big mouth and for what? Being told to go exactly where he'd planned to in the first place. Brilliant, Chosen, absolute genius. Though, all this new information did present a new problem. How was he going to tell the others without arising suspicion? That could be tricky, but he didn't think he'd had too much to worry about with most of them, as the only shrewd one was Raine and even she wasn't that hard to trick. Still, what route should he use to tell them-

"What was that all about?"

Zelos blinked, absolutely dumbfounded, his mind blank. In all of his mental scolding, he hadn't realized he'd unconsciously marched all the way across the pier to where Sheena sat and to make matters worse, had no plan on what to say. So, he decided to follow his age old mantra.

When in doubt, blame Lloyd.

"I just got some juicy info from Bud." Zelos replied numbly, his mind on freeform mode. "Apparently, he found the brat and her highness and for some odd reason, the old man is dragging all three of them to the Tower of Mana."

"Why's he doing that?" Sheena asked, her puff flitting back and forth in the night air.

"I dunno, but what I do know is even stranger." The diminished debaucher deviated from the topic, which she thankfully didn't seem to notice. " If that weren't weird enough, Yuan's on his way to the tower right now too."

"You serious?" The petite summoner inquired, but stopped half way with a puzzled look on her face. "Wait, how does Lloyd know?"

"Kratos, I'm guessing." Zelos improvised as quickly as he could. "Probably he heard it from Yuan. Angelic small talk and all that. So yeah, and he's taking Colette along for the ride."

"Hm, how bizarre. So everyone's headed for the Tower of Mana?" Sheena prodded further, not knowing under what mental duress the boy standing in front of her was enduring. The pewit philanderer managed to keep a straight face while he nodded, but mentally he was tearing his hair out. Juggling Cruxis, the Renegades and the others without missing a single ball was getting to be too much for him. This was nuts, why did he had to come up with all the stories on a drop of a hat and then have to build on every single one without forgetting one stupid detail? He didn't know how much more he could take before he completely snapped.

"Yep. Kinda funny how that worked out, 'cause that's where we were gonna go soon too. So we should probably go tell the other two that everyone's headed for that Tower and head for it too and..."

"... hey, where's my snowcone?"

Sheena paused and grinned sheepishly at him.

"I er... I got hungry so I kinda... ate it."

Zelos looked like he wanted to cry.

* * *

Yuan clicked the comlink off and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. After he made sure it was securely tucked into the folds of his shirt, the renegade commander nonchalantly strolled back into the corridor and made his way down the desolate path towards his personal quarters.

This was proving to be much more than he bargained for. Not only were they all headed for the Tower of Mana, which was very good news that they were that much closer to germinating the great seed and thus letting Martel finally have her eternal rest, Kratos being right there in the vicinity was not what he hoped would happen. He figured Kratos might have been in the area or something to that degree, but right in the way? That could prove to be tricky indeed. The half elf angel would have to be on his guard at all times, or the entire operation could be jeopardized. Plus, how the hell was he supposed to retrieve his ring from the chestnut spiked brat known as Lloyd if he had his own vicious guard dog ready to slice off any limb that came too close. Yuan liked both of his arms where they were.

Though, the half elf turncoat couldn't help but wryly smile to himself as he trod down the corridor. He knew neither of the pair would have noticed, as Kratos would have mentally blocked himself from seeing the obvious and Lloyd was about as perceptive as a rock, but the older seraphim was quite protective of his young offspring to the point of it being intensely irksome and oddly hilarious at the same time. He had never pegged Kratos as the type to have been such a busy bee about his kid's welfare, but then again, he had never pegged Kratos as the type to have a kid in the first place, so what did he know? After all, he'd never had a kid, so he didn't know the schematics too well, but what he could tell by mere perception alone was that it seriously messed with people's personalities, with 'people' meaning Kratos and 'personalities' meaning he actually got one. Sure, he'd lost it when he thought his family was dead, but Yuan noticed some distinct changes in his persona when he'd seen him over the past few months. He seemed different, like there was some newfound fight in him.

'Perhaps that feeling comes with being a parent.' Yuan shook his head, flicked his ponytail over his shoulder and pressed his palm against the scanner outside his office. 'Even if it IS him.'

Though, it did make him think. If things hadn't turned out the way they had and he'd managed to marry Martel and have a child of his own, would he have acted like that too? He'd never know for sure, but it was fuel for thought nonetheless. Still, thinking about what could've been was pointless and he had to focus on what was happening right now, lest he become forever lost in memory lane.

"Welcome back, Yuan." Colette smiled warmly as the half elf commander stepped through the threshold of his office. "Did you take care of what you needed to?" Yuan nodded to her, though he paused when he noticed she'd taken residence on the top of his desk again, her pale legs swinging back and forth while her shoes scuffed the varnish.

'Why has my desk turned into your couch?' The angelic renegade asked himself exasperatedly, but staved off his comment.

"Yes, I believe I have." The cerulean haired angel replied calmly, the automatic door closing behind him with a click.

"That's great!" The blonde cherub grinned widely and waved the Lloyd puppet at him. "Can I continue the puppet show? It's just about for the big scene when I lost my soul and Lloyd got thrown into a pillar-"

"Colette, I'm afraid the puppet show will have to wait." Yuan interjected. "I.. er, we need to go to the Tower of Mana immediately."

"What?" The petite pixie blinked, the Lloyd puppet still aloft. "Why?"

"Apparently your friends are about to make the last pact and I have to prevent anyone unsavory from interfering." The seraphim responded as he pushed in a file drawer, paused, opened it, pulled out his cape that had accidentally gotten caught in it and shut it again.

"Oh." Colette's face fell and so did the puppet into her lap. "Okay." Noting her sudden forlorn continence, the angelic renegade commandant glanced over his shoulder at her and frowned. The cherubim chosen still sat on the desk, her shoulders slumped while she fingered the felt hair of the Lloyd puppet and let out a small sigh. Raising an eyebrow, Yuan picked up a stack of files and walked over to his desk, though all the way a rising heaviness in the pit of his stomach and panged him as he went. Yuan frowned. There was no way he was hungry, he normally didn't get very peckish and even if he did, he'd eaten a while back. So what was that sensation like someone had punched him in the stomach?

Then it dawned on him.

It was guilt, he felt guilty. He wasn't sure why, but he did. Apparently, opting to assist in saving the worlds instead of watching a puppet show put on by a five year old had incited a round of guilt. How that worked, he wasn't entirely sure. Still, it did. Sighing, Yuan placed the files inside another drawer of his desk and looked over at the moppet on the rich surface of his desktop.

"... you can continue once we get back."

"Really?" Colette instantly perked up. "Promise?"

"I promise."

"... pinky swear?"

"What?"

"Pinky swear. You swear that you'll do it by locking pinkys like this." Colette took Yuan's hand in hers and locked her slender pinky around his own, which he thought to be a rather impressive feat, as his hand was probably twice the size of hers. "See?" Yuan mentally sighed. He knew what a pinky swear was. Hell, it had been employed in HIS youth for kharlan's sake. He wasn't so senile as to have forgotten it either. He'd merely been caught off guard because not many people asked a seraphim to engage in that kind of bonding system. Legal contracts, oaths of honor, and even mana seals like the one placed on Kratos, but never a pinky swear.

But then again, Colette wasn't most people.

"... pinky swear." Yuan tiredly acknowledged the swear, though what he really wanted to do was pinch the bridge of his nose and lie down for awhile.

"Alright then it's settled." The five year old would be vessel chirped, tucked the puppets away into her pack and bounded to the door. "Let's go!" Nodding, Yuan quickly gathered what he needed and joined her at the door. Once the mechanism had sent through and the door released itself, Colette happily flounced through the renegade hallway, her blonde hair bobbing in tandem.

'This little endeavor could prove to be interesting.' The angelic renegade commandant mused while he locked the door to his office and followed Colette who bounced down the corridor. 'Though I don't know if it's going to be interesting or...'

'... _interesting_.'

* * *

"You can all come out now. We've arrived." Kratos knocked once on the door of the shed he'd used to transport Lloyd and his friends from dimension to dimension. He hadn't exactly been fond of that method of transportation himself, but as he'd had to use the doors through the Tower of Salvation that passed through the worlds, there was little choice in the matter. If Yggdrasill found out about Lloyd as he was now, everything would be put into drastic jeopardy, from the plan of reuniting the worlds with the eternal sword to that of Lloyd's own life. So, Kratos had no choice but to place all of them inside the confines of his wingpack and travel as if by himself. As to why he was knocking on the door of his own storage shed he wasn't really sure, probably from years of etiquette training that had been ingrained into his mind when he was a boy himself, not to mention how long he'd had to strengthen said training. No matter where, it was important to knock at a door to allow others time to prepare themselves. It might have been a shed, but that was of little importance. It was the principle of the thing.

"Did you put this thing on the ground first?" Genis' voice called skeptically from inside the storage shed. Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"No, I thought it would be much better to hold the shed from a high altitude and see what happened when you collided with the ground." Rustling came from inside the shed before the door swung open and Genis' head poked out, glaring at the antiquated angel.

"Y'know, for an angel, you sure are sarcastic." The miniature mage glowered crossly as he stepped out from the shed onto the lush grass outside the Tower of Mana. Kratos glanced at the small pipsqueak and suppressed the sudden urge he had to roll his eyes.

"If you have the energy to speak, then you have the energy to stop wasting time." The seraphim swordmaster replied curtly as the other two occupants quickly fled the shed. Not waiting for Genis to retaliate, Kratos briskly put away the shed into the wingpack and picked up his pace towards the entrance to the tower. He was already in a rush, the last thing he was in the mood for was commentary via a half elf know it all who hadn't learned to keep all of his opinions to himself.

"Genis, what happened to staying on Kratos' good side?" Kratos heard Lloyd whisper to Genis, though he supposed he wasn't intended to have heard.

"That's based on the assumption he HAS a good side." Genis grumbled back, his arms folded tightly against his slim chest. Kratos inwardly smirked. He had a good side, he just didn't show it much as he saw no reason to do so. Though, if Genis wanted to think that of him, that didn't bother him whatsoever. If anything, it in fact solidified his cover in case Genis decided to voice his opinions about the angelic lord in public, which he suspected the boy did.

"Don't mind him. He gets a little cranky when he's hungry." Raine sighed exasperatedly and reached into her orange poncho, retrieving a cracker with the style and color of sanded cardboard. "Genis, have a cracker."

"Ooh, cracker." The tiny mage chirped and took the cracker, biting into it. "Yum, ith cinnamony. Fank yuu Sis." He beamed with a mouthful of cracker. From the corner of his eye, the age old swordsman noticed that his son was staring incredulously at Genis, who continued to munch on the cracker like there was no tomorrow.

"That was fast." Lloyd whistled as he and his friends ascended the steps of the Tower of Mana's veranda.

"Yes." The pint sized Professor nodded. "You've probably noticed over the years that if he doesn't eat for a certain period of time, Genis gets irritable and snippy. So, I've taken to carrying around some crackers just in case such an occasion should arise. It helps curb it."

"Crackers soothe the grumpy Genis... huh. That's a pretty good idea." The chestnut haired boy mused. "So crackers help people get out of foul moods?"

"It's a tad more complicated than that, but in essence, yes."

"... can I have a cracker?"

Raine's eyes narrowed.

"Are you irritable?" She asked suspiciously.

"Uh... er... not right now."

"Then no. Crackers are only for people who have low blood sugar and are thus cranky."

"Aw, c'mon! If I try really hard and work at it I could be cranky. Just watch-"

"Here. Just try not to burst a blood vessel." The Professor relented, thrusting a cracker into Lloyd's hand and internally the seraphim let out a sigh of relief. Kratos really would've liked to avoid Lloyd having a burst blood vessel if he could help it. That didn't sound like a very enjoyable experience.

"Thanks Professor!" Lloyd grinned widely and ran past them both to where Kratos stood next to the door waiting for them to catch up. Kratos didn't comment, but rather opened the door to the tower and held it open for the other three to go through. The door had been so thick and heavy, he'd had no choice but to do so lest he subject himself to a rant courtesy of at least two thoroughly irritated children. Lloyd quickly took the hint and walked inside, the two half elves following his lead. Kratos went in last and let go of the door behind him, though Lloyd had stopped right at the threshold and the seraph had to nudge him forward so the door wouldn't shut on him.

"Yep, same old Tower, just as bookish as ever." Lloyd mused offhandedly as he peered around the building, taking in the details of the ancient structure.

"Wow, Lloyd, your powers of description never cease to astound me." Genis grinned wryly, though cracker crumbs dotted around his cheeks and mouth. Lloyd gave him a flat look.

"This from the kid who said 'cinnamony'."

"It's a viable word."

"If you're a crazy person-"

"OH, MY PRECIOUS BOOKS, HOW I'VE MISSED YOU!" Raine, fully in a ruin frenzy, bowled both of the bantering boys over like bowling ball pins and dashed into the center of the room. Once there, she spun around in a daze and immediately dove behind a bookcase and began rifling through the books like a madwoman.. er mad girl.

"Speaking of crazy person, there she goes again." Lloyd grimaced as he pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off. "Now that we're here, what do we do now?"

"You can all do as you like." Kratos replied simply, having chosen to ignore the gleeful ravings of his son's teacher that echoed through the room. Instead, he swiftly crossed the room and headed towards the doorway that led to the ramps up above in the tower. He didn't have time for such antics, he had to establish his place in front of the warp point lest someone show up and get in the way-

"Kratos, where are you going?" Lloyd called after the older man, his shoes clicking across the polished floor as he trailed after him.

"To the top of the tower." The seraphim swordmaster responded curtly, his mind honed in on his current objective.

"Can I come?"

Kratos stopped walking. He would've been lying if he said he'd been expecting that. Lloyd had found his friends, yet he still wanted to accompany the older angel? Even though he'd spent very little time around children, let alone his own son, this type of behavior struck Kratos as being strange. Generally, didn't children typically want to be around people their own age, as sort of a bonding ritual? While Lloyd may not have mentally and emotionally have been a six year old, he still wasn't yet a man, so he should have also been part of that collective grouping.

Unless Lloyd actually... wanted to go along for that reason of bonding with- no, no, he was thinking too much into it.

"You may do as you wish, as long as you don't get in the way." Kratos stated firmly, quashing his previous thoughts for more rational ones. Pontificating on what might have been going on through Lloyd's unconsciousness wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. He had to focus before something happened that he, nor anyone else, could undo. Completely unaware of what Kratos was pondering, Lloyd simply grinned broadly, turned around and faced his friends, or at least the one he could see.

"Hey guys, are you... Professor, what are you doing?" The lilliputian leader froze when a huge set of books came crashing out from the bookcase and his teacher poked her head through the opening.

"I'm rescuing these antique tomes from neglect and abandon. What does it look like I'm doing?" Raine demanded like what she was doing was perfectly normal and not suspicious.

"... uh huh. And why are you doing that?"

"Because these poor relics have been cast aside like yesterday's laundry and I have to interfere for the sake of scholars everywhere. Therefore, I must purloin these precious sources of information before they are lost to the vast chasm of the world's ignorance."

"... what now?"

"That means she's gonna stash them in her bag and run out like a bandit with her hair on fire." Genis grinned, until a particularly large book soared through the air and collided with the side of his head.

"Ow!"

"So are you coming?" Lloyd asked again while Genis gingerly massaged the point of impact left by a hard bound copy of 'Dwarven Vows'.

"I would, but I think it might be a good idea if I keep an eye on Sis." The miniscule magician replied. "She's got that gleam in her eye when there's a ruin moment about brew over and if I leave her to her own devices like I did that one time, we might not have a Tower of Mana by the end of this little visit."

"Was that the time your bed was on the roof of your house?"

"Yeah."

"And then you told me it was because pixies transported it there after you'd set off for school?"

"... yeah." The silver haired sprite murmured sheepishly. "I was embarrassed so I didn't tell you the truth."

"Dude, I believed you! Do you know how dumb that made me look?"

"Hey, I said I was sorry! Besides, which one would you have believed more? Pixies or my sister trying to disprove aspects of physics with our furniture?"

"... you have a point."

"If you two are done with your little comedy routine, stop wasting time and trying my patience in the process." Kratos interjected roughly from the doorway that led towards the summit of the tower. "Lloyd, if you're coming, let's go."

"Coming!" Lloyd responded, turned on his heel and dashed off like a shot after Kratos. Satisfied that they were finally making some progress, the angelic being progressed up the ramp, though to his dismay he could still hear echoes from what was occurring down below bounce off the walls.

"Sis, don't take that one!"

"Blasphemy! This book is a veritable source of knowledge, I must rescue it!"

"But it's bigger than you are!"

"Nonsense, I'll simply leverage it and- Aarrgh!"

"Sis!"

A huge blast of sound of a book colliding with the ground reverberated through the ramped hall, making Lloyd jump and Kratos pinch the bridge of his nose. The boy at his side glanced at Kratos for a moment, then over his shoulder at the bottom of the hall, and then at Kratos again.

"Uh, Kratos, shouldn't we-"

"Keep walking, Lloyd." Kratos cut Lloyd off and strode faster than he had before.

"But-"

"Keep walking."

* * *

"Wow... this place hasn't changed... much since we were... here last time, huh?" Lloyd commented raggedly as the pair made their way up the ramp to the top of the tower. About ten minutes had passed since they'd left Genis and Raine down at the base of the Tower and Lloyd was already starting to feel the effects trudging up a high inclined building while in the body of a six year old. His leg muscles felt like they were made of lead, his chest was on fire because of pushing himself to keep up with the older angel's lengthy strides and his face was drenched with perspiration.

All in all, he felt awful. So, in an attempt to keep his mind off his burning calves and lungs, the shrunken swordsman turned his attention towards establishing a conversation with the seraphim swordmaster. However, that was proving difficult as it was unclear to Lloyd whether or not said seraphim swordmaster had registered anything he said. Kratos hadn't responded to any of the boy's astute observations with anything over an occasional nod or an offhanded sound that Lloyd couldn't honestly constitute as a reply. He just kept on walking, his eyes ever so often scanning the area for any signs of movement, his left hand forever resting on the hilt of his sword.

'Maybe he didn't hear me because my breath was practically gone.' Lloyd thought crossly while he continued to half walk, half drag himself up the stone path towards the topmost warp. 'I should try again.' Heaving up another breath, Lloyd shifted his head to the side and stared up at the thoughtful swordsman, who, judging by his expression, though Lloyd supposed it wasn't really a full on one, looked like he was having an argument with himself again. Lloyd frowned. He wasn't going to let a little thing like angelic internal strife deter his efforts.

"So.. probably speaking... we were the last... ones in here... right?" The tiny boy gasped out before his vocal chords ran out of oomph and his lungs burned again. That seemed to have snagged the seraph's attention, because he glanced over at Lloyd, frowned and stopped his brisk cadence. A bit surprised that Kratos suddenly ceased walking, Lloyd had to catch himself from running into the older swordsman again and took a step back in order to steady himself. Once he'd managed to regain his stable footing, the squirt of a swordsman locked eyes with his antiquated counterpart and raised an eyebrow.

"Wh-what?" Lloyd asked suspiciously through his heavy breathing, his cheeks red from pushing himself too hard.

"Lloyd. If you're that winded, stop for a moment." The stoic swordmaster stated while he folded his arms against his chest as he eyed the boy.

"I'm... I'm okay." Lloyd protested, his breathing still impeding his speech. "I'm just fine." Kratos' eyes narrowed.

"You're wheezing."

"I...I am not."

"Sit."

Before Lloyd could stop himself, his legs gave way and he landed with a thud right in the middle of the stone platform at the top of the ramp. Swearing to himself, Lloyd ran a hand through his chestnut hair and snorted, thoroughly put out.

"O.. okay, fine." He retorted, albeit not as fast as he would have liked because his wind had yet to return. "But.. I'm just fine, y'know. I'm only humoring you." Instead of looking convinced, the elder angelic lord merely rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall that lined the ramp on the outside, his cherry irises never once leaving Lloyd's boyish face.

Lloyd groaned and fiddled with his fingers as he tried to ignore the stare he was receiving from the taciturn angel. It was bad enough when Kratos always pulled that piercing stare thing when they were on the Journey of Regeneration when they talked privately, but when he did it now, it felt even more bizarre, like he was scanning Lloyd inside and out. And, for some odd reason, Lloyd got an inkling that the elder angel was only half observing him, half thinking about something else entirely. How someone could do both and still look as intimidating as Kratos did Lloyd really couldn't even begin to figure out. Still, it was a bit odd watching Kratos watch him so scrutinizingly, yet not entirely at the same time.

'I wonder what he's thinking about.' Lloyd thought uncomfortably as he sat there on the ground, awkwardly twisting the rogue strand of hair that liked to rebel against the others with his finger. 'I wish he'd stop staring at me like Noishe would at his empty food bowl.' Peering up at Kratos, Lloyd noted the antiquated angel had not wavered from his gaze at the youthful tot and hurriedly refocused his eyes on a spot on the floor. After what seemed like an eternity and a half, Lloyd let go of the lock of hair he'd pinned between his thumb and forefinger, let out a long breath and looked at Kratos.

"What are you thinking about?" He finally asked, his curiosity overriding his skeptic apprehension. Kratos blinked once as if he had just returned from another mental plane and looked back at Lloyd, though technically his eyes had never actually left Lloyd's visage.

Aha, he had been thinking about something. Kratos could hide it all he wanted, but Lloyd knew that expression of someone who'd just been thrown out of their deep thoughts or daydreams when reality hit them upside the head. Sure, it was usually an eraser in his case, but hey, the basic concept was still the same. Lloyd inwardly smirked. Who'd have thought the tough and stoic angel of death could space out?

"Nothing that you need concern yourself with." The angelic lord replied curtly, turning his head so half his face was obscured by his curtain of auburn hair. Lloyd snorted. There had to be something and if Kratos was thinking about it that hard, that was all the reason he needed to be interested in.

"You sure?" Lloyd pressed on, his tapered chestnut eyebrows furrowing into his cherrywood eyes. "You look like you swallowed a lemon." From underneath the veil of auburn hair, Kratos shot Lloyd a dirty look that instantly silenced the boy's line of questioning. Apparently someone didn't like being compared to a lemon eater.

'Ooh, touchy.' The diminished dual swordsman grimaced while Kratos turned his eyes upon one of the pillars that supported the stone canopy along the inclined ramp. 'Okay, how about I try a different angle.'

"Why'd you let me stop?" Lloyd inquired instead. Sure it was fairly random for a topic, but maybe if he twisted and maneuvered it enough, he could steer it back towards what Kratos had originally been thinking. It was a bit of a stretch, but he had to start somewhere. Besides, he really did want to know.

"You were barely breathing." Kratos responded coolly, his tone suggesting that was one of the most obvious things on either world.

"But I could've made it farther, just watch." Lloyd made to get up and demonstrate he had more than required to get up the ramp, but as the spell was still in effect, all he managed to do was flail around on the ground like a fish who'd been attached to a piece of plywood with a staple gun.

"Well, I could if I wasn't cemented to the floor right now." He frowned, folding his arms against his chest and glaring at his immobile seat. He could move his legs and arms well enough, but his seat was super-spelled to the stone beneath him and as such, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Don't look a gift dragon in the mouth, Lloyd." Kratos commented flatly, his expression a mixture of disdain and exasperation at the boy's battle against the spell and the fact the boy lost. Lloyd glared at Kratos.

"I'm not, I just-"

"Then don't question my generosity if you wish for it to remain." With that, Kratos turned away from Lloyd entirely and peered out onto the blackened abyss of the center of the tower that stretched for miles and miles each way. Behind him, Lloyd sighed quietly to himself and began to fiddle with the stray piece of hair that attempted to poke his eye.

'Yeesh, he's in a foul mood.' Lloyd grumbled silently, the spikes of his hair bristling. 'Still, perhaps this isn't the best time to be bugging him about this stuff. As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. I shouldn't question him letting me take a break.' Stretching slightly, the petite swordsman took in a deep breath and noticed that the once flaring sensation that permeated through his lungs had been replaced with cool, crisp air instead.

'I guess I did need it.' He added sheepishly, pulling at the side of his sleeve with his fingers. 'I'm already slowing him down as it is, the last thing I should probably be doing is poking him for information-'

"Lloyd."

Glancing up from his sleeve, Lloyd's cherrywood irises shot to the stoic seraphim who'd said his name and watched Kratos like a snake would a mongoose. Though, as long as Lloyd observed him, Kratos made no movement to suggest he'd said anything at all. Sighing, Lloyd turned his eyes away again and pulled at his sleeve. Maybe he was hallucinating. Kratos hadn't turned so he faced the sword wielding six year old, nor had he even glanced over his shoulder at him, so it was entirely possible Lloyd had imagined it.

"Your breathing... has it returned to normal?" Kratos' baritone voice flooded the empty corridor and echoed in the small gradeschooler's ears once again.

So much for the hallucination theory.

"Yeah, it's okay. I think it's back to the way it's supposed to be." Lloyd stated after a minute or so of staring at Kratos' back from his spot on the ground.

"Ah." The seraphim swordmaster replied softly, his back still to the boy. A moment or two passed by between both seraph and six year old, until Kratos let out a shallow breath and slowly glanced back at Lloyd.

"Lloyd."

"Hm? What is it?" Lloyd asked, one of his eyebrows caulked in intrigue. Kratos watched him briefly, closed his eyes and shifted his attention back in front once more.

"... never mind. Forget I said anything." The ancient swordsman murmured softly, his tone barely audible to normal ears.

"Uh...okay." The former teenage replied, slightly taken aback. Okay, that had been weird. Eying Kratos with a good amount of intrigue and suspicion, Lloyd heaved an exasperated sigh and looked down to his legs that felt like lead from sitting too long.

"Can I get up now?" He asked hopefully, if not a tad on the desperate side. If he didn't get to moving again and soon, Lloyd was convinced he'd never get the feeling in the lower half of his body ever again.

"If you wish."

"Thanks." With more effort than he should've used, Lloyd bounded to his feet, tripped as he tried to keep his balance and after almost falling on his face, trotted over to where Kratos stood. While the railing of the spiral ramp the angelic warlord about mid waist, Lloyd was nose to nose with the bar and had to stand on the tips of his shoes to see over it.

While it wasn't the first time he'd been to the Tower of Mana, Lloyd had never truly appreciated just how big the structure built to gaze upon the Tower of Salvation actually was. Maybe that was a side effect of being shrunk down to a fraction of his original size. Still, it sure was a long way down. He knew from memory there was quite an intricate pattern on the floor below, but from where they stood on the ramp, he wasn't sure if he could actually make out the floor at all.

Though, as he continued to stare down into the dim abyss that made up the central cavern of the tower, Lloyd realized he COULD see every single design, each tiny detail in perfect clarity, down to the last crack in the marble floor that graced each of the tiles edges.

'Huh, that's strange.' The pint sized pewit scrunched up his nose and scratched the side of his head. Had he always been able to do that? Ah well, he'd have the professor look at it next time he saw her and that would clear it up. Besides, hadn't Kratos said something about 'not looking a gift dragon in the mouth'? The saying sounded kind of dated to him, but Lloyd guessed it meant 'don't prod too much at good things' and what was the point of worrying about good eyesight? Shrugging to himself, Lloyd glanced up at Kratos and his shoulders fell. The elder swordmaster still had that unreadable expression he always wore, but even though that hadn't changed, Lloyd couldn't shake the feeling Kratos was uneasy. He didn't know why, but there was something, just something that nagged at him about the older man who stood next to him. He tried to ignore it, but the nagging stabbing in the pit of his stomach kept on pressing until the sensation was so strong he couldn't leave it alone anymore.

Something wasn't right. That, or at the very least, something was really bothering Kratos. He didn't know what exactly but something was definitely irking him more so than usual, and because of the fact that deep down, the shrunken swordsman did want to regard Kratos as a friend, his first instinct was to help out as best he could. He wasn't exactly sure if that was appropriate, given as Kratos had technically betrayed them and all, but still. It was the principle of the thing. Someone he still wanted to think of as a friend might perchance be having some internal struggle and he wanted to help. He at least had to try. But what could he possibly do that would even come close to assisting?

Lloyd sighed and poked his forehead with his right index finger. When it came to Kratos, Lloyd was the first to tell anyone the stanch seraphim was extremely hard to get close to, let alone as a friend though he wasn't supposed to think that. Even though he'd spent close to a year trailing after the seraphim in disguise, Lloyd realized he knew next to nothing about the angelic lord, with the exception of that one incident with the locket of course, and the cryptic comments Kratos would leave about every so often, but that wasn't nearly enough to make a decent hypothesis of what might've been running through the enigmatic angel's mind. So even if he was truly struggling with something, where the hell would the tiny boy begin in his efforts? It's not like Kratos really left a whole lot of clues about himself all over the place.

His eyebrows furrowing in concentration, Lloyd thought for a moment about what he could do, though nothing really came to mind. Kratos was one of the four seraphim, one of the leaders that shaped the twisted world that he lived in, one of the most powerful beings in existence. When it came to assisting him, his usual response was to shrug it off and be all inscrutable off by himself. Since right out asking never got anywhere, and charades were out of the question, the shrimpy swordsman was shot for options.

It was then an idea plunged into his mind and skewered his brain with fervor, nearly sending the boy into a state of epiphany. A bizarre and completely off-keel idea, but an idea nonetheless. Stuffing a hand into his pocket, Lloyd retrieved the cinnamon cracker that Raine had given him prior to his departure, dusted it off with his sleeve, and looked it over. He scrutinized it for a minute, glanced up at Kratos, who still stared off into the central chasm of the tower, and then looked back at it again. Nodding to himself firmly, Lloyd stood on the tips of his shoes, stretched as far as his arm would go, and held it out for the brooding seraphim, waving it back and forth so as to gain the seraph' attention.

"... cracker?"

* * *

"This is all your fault!" Zelos squawked shrilly at Regal as the rheaird he clung to crashed downward towards the front path of the Tower of Mana. "You made me ride with Sheena the speed demon and my heart could barely stand it the first time! Do you have any idea what's going to happen to me when my heart gives out from all of the stress?" As his piercing curses of indignation suggested, Zelos had been once again victimized by the downright reckless piloting of Speed Ninja Sheena and her driving had resulted in almost colliding with the broadside of Hakonesia's peak, not the gate or the pass, but the actual mountain itself. That was definitely enough to raise his heart rate by at least a beat or two.

Once the machine's landing rudders sank into the soft grass just beyond the tower's stairs, Zelos barreled off the Rheaird like he was on fire and clutched at his chest to make sure his heart was still in its cavity. After he'd made sure all of his organs were still in place, the traumatized chosen sprang to his feet and glared bloody murder at everything that met his eyes, his hair standing on end like he'd stuck his finger in a light socket. Somebody was going to hear about it, and as he knew Sheena would either a) not care, b)kick him or c) all of the above, and Presea had a sharp instrument of maiming, his attention fell to the person who remained and coincidentally suggested that Sheena pilot the rheaird in the first place, Regal.

"And when she kills me by crashing this flying death trap into some big, hard and deadly, I'll haunt you until you're just as old and grey as you were before!" The irate chosen exclaimed flamboyantly while pointing a very accusing finger at the petite president. "I hope you're prepared to pay the consequences, Regal!" Instead of being particularly intimidated, Regal glanced over his shoulder at Zelos, rolled his eyes and let out a tired breathe as Presea slowly steered the rheaird they shared to a steady halt and parked it next to Sheena's.

"I'm listening to you whine, aren't I?" Regal replied flatly as he dismounted himself from his own Rheiard. "Isn't that consequence enough?" Zelos wrinkled up his nose and snorted irritatedly. No, that wasn't enough. Going back in time, switching places with him and then erasing the memories of nearly being crushed by a mountain were what he considered enough, and that was after he toned down his demands. Though, regardless of how traumatized Zelos believed he'd become, no one seemed to pay him much in the way of attention. Sheena and Presea were far too busy tending to storing their own rheairds inside the wingpack and Regal was outright ignoring him at that point as the 'old and grey as you were before' comment had apparently struck a nerve, so Zelos was left without an audience.

'... I miss Bud.' The childlike chosen sniffed, thoroughly put out. 'He'd pay attention to me.' Well, alright, Lloyd probably wouldn't give a whole lot of sympathy to Zelos' plight, if any at all, but at least he would acknowledge his outright cry of indignation...

... for a minute...

...maybe...

...if Zelos was loud enough...

'... my friends stink.' He thought crankily, folding his arms against his chest while he pouted. Though, as he sulked, another thought burrowed itself out of his unconscious and kicked his brain back and forth like a kid's ball.

''Friends'? Where'd that come from?' One of his crimson eyebrows raised, Zelos blinked, glanced down at his arm and then off into the sky which still had yet to recover from the quartet's abrupt exit. Out of carelessness, for some odd reason he'd subconsciously referred to these people, the people who were trying to tear down Cruxis while under the leadership of a boy who could barely pass math, not to mention the people he'd been secretly passing information to both Cruxis and the Renegades about, as his friends. As he watched the clouds drift by, the childlike acolyte ran a hand through his scarlet tendrils of hair and let out a deep, yet weak breath.

'Huh, I must be getting soft.' Zelos sighed to himself. 'Hell I have to be if these guys are worming their way into my mind as friends-'

"Oy, Space Cadet, you read me?"

The tones of Sheena's impatient voice snapping him out of his thought induced coma, Zelos' pupils slid back into focus and he slowly peered over at her like he was squinting through lenses caked with wet flour.

"Huh?" The acute acolyte asked drunkenly while he massaged the side of his face with his sleeve. Noticing his less than cognizant state, Sheena tilted her right hip to the side, rested her fist on that hip and frowned like an overworked den mother.

"Oh, for the love of... you don't need to daze off into space like my driving rattled your brains too hard." The acute assassin sighed exasperatedly, her haywire tendrils of hair frilling out in her ponytail puff. " I flew just fine this time."

Although he'd just regained his sense of the real world again, Zelos stared at her, his mouth agape. She had to be kidding. It didn't matter how long he'd been in lala-land, no space-out session was powerful to deter him from her insane flying escapades.

"If by 'just fine', you mean almost collided with the broadside of a mountain and turned me into a pancake, then yeah, you flew 'just fine'." The shrimpy magic knight retorted sardonically while he fiddled with a piece of his hair between his forefinger and thumb. "Seriously, how could you not miss that? It's not like your chest was blocking your view anymore- YAIEE!"

The chosen's latest comment was cut short when Sheena's fist collided with his face and sent him sprawling onto the cobbled steps leading to the tower. Bouncing against the stone like clay on a wooden plate, Zelos woozily looked up and swallowed hard as

he eyed the livid summoner stalk towards him, and, judging from the fire of pure venom radiating from her eyes, she hadn't even begun to pound him.

"Why you perverted-" Sheena's fist soared upward like it was about to take a dive off the deep end of a pool, but Presea's hand caught Sheena's arm before she made contact with Zelos' cheek and the acute axe wielder shook her head monotonously.

"Everyone, let's go inside before we waste too much time." Presea advised with her flat affect and quickly entered the tower, Regal not far behind. A little irked her corporal punishment had been interrupted, Sheena sighed pointedly, folded her arms against her chest and glared at the philanderous half pint who still sat on the stone path.

"Alright I'll give you a brief reprieve." She relented grudgingly, but nonetheless yanked him up by his collar so he was standing again. "But when we're outta here, your ass is grass." With that, Sheena turned around and stalked towards the double doors of the Tower of Mana, leaving a very indignant chosen behind her.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Zelos bellowed after her, running so he was about three steps behind. "I get the threat behind it, but what does my rear end have to do with lawns?"

Sheena then took the opportunity to slam the doors on him.

"OW!"

No one paid any attention to the latest cry of pain, nor to the long string of curse words that emanated afterward from the porch outside. They were all far too busy investigating the intricate details the antiquated structure had to offer. It was much more interesting than listening to Zelos rant anyway.

"It's very spacious in here. Not what I would have expected for a tower." Presea commented as she gazed around the interior of the Tower of Mana.

"Indeed." Regal agreed as he inspected one of the tiles on the polished floor. No one really would have expected it, as the tower did appear very slender from the outside, but then again, they wouldn't have expected a silver haired four year old's head to pop out from one of the bookshelves. However, there was one, one with bright red cheeks and a goofy grin directed at the pigtailed sailor.

"P-presea, everyone!" Genis exclaimed jubilantly as he bounded out from behind the bookshelves towards them all.

"Hello, Genis. I hope you've been well." Presea greeted him cordially with a small smile, her hands wrapped around the base of her axe. Genis' face grew a shade deeper of red and he rubbed the back of his head with his hand, laughing like an idiot.

"Y-yeah, I'm j-just great, couldn't be b-better!" The lovestruck preschooler stammered through his nervous laughter. "I h-hope you've b-been good too-"

Genis' attempted at currying favor with Presea were disrupted when the doors to the Tower of Mana burst open, and an intensely irked Zelos stomped in, his nose turning a shade of purple from where the door had gotten him.

"That hurt dammit- oh, hey, Brat." The annoyed acolyte squawked at Sheena, but ceased when he noticed Genis. "What are you doing down here?" Genis stared at him, or more importantly, the bridge of his nose which was mixing purple and red to make an odd magenta hue and glanced over his shoulder towards one of the bookcases in the far back.

"Keeping an eye on Sis." Genis hooked a thumb over his shoulder, not really wanting to know how exactly Zelos' nose got to be such a lovely shade of maroon. "About a half hour ago, she got attacked by a big encyclopedia and-"

"Hello again." Raine's head suddenly stuck out of a bookshelf and made them all jump, successfully derailing the story of her previous fiasco with the book larger than she. "You've all been doing well?"

"Hello and yes, we are fine for the most part, save for the youthful aspect." Regal replied as he flattened out part of his hair that had stood on end in an attempt to save some of his waning dignity.

"And the pink girly handcuffs." Zelos added wryly, nudging the pubescent president in the ribs. Regal glanced at his shiny cuffs and glared at the chatty chosen from the corner of his eye.

"I'm getting a new pair made."

"Whatever you say, el Presidente." The red headed second grader grinned while he rested his arms behind his head like a pillow. Yawning into his flamingo pink trenchcoat sleeve, he peered around the hall from one side to the other and raised a scarlet eyebrow.

"Where's Bud?"

"He's upstairs with Kratos." Raine replied simply, stepping out from behind the bookcase to reveal her arms were laden with three more weighty tomes. Most people doing that would have spawned some questions from the others, but since it was Raine, it was the unspoken, yet collective agreement that they didn't really think they wanted to know.

"Great." Sheena grimaced, obviously unsettled, and looked towards both sets of stairs that led up the tower. "Yeesh, that made everything way worse."

"Yeah, no kidding." Zelos wrinkled his bruised nose and then winced because he'd moved it at all. "What's he doing, holding Bud hostage?"

"Actually, it was Lloyd's idea to go with him." Genis explained as he pointed a miniature finger towards the stairwell off in the far right corner of the entry hall. "We stayed behind because Raine was stealing-"

"RESCUING!"

"Fine, 'rescuing' the books and I wanted to make sure she didn't half kill her or the books or both."

"Ah, I gotcha." Zelos nodded absentmindedly, blew some hair out of his face and grinned at them all. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go kick some angelic tail and get that last pact!" Without waiting for anything else, he bounced across the floor, gestured for them to follow and bolted up the other set of stairs that Genis hadn't pointed to.

The remaining five watched him go and looked at each other, each with the exact same, albeit Presea's was much more subdued, derisive expression.

"... that really goes to show who was with us the last time we fought Kratos and who wasn't." Sheena folded her arms against her chest and shook her head disapprovingly.

"I don't think that has anything to do with it." Raine responded with a sigh while she tucked the last book into her makeshift wingpack. "Presea and Regal don't look too eager on that prospect either."

"Then that proves something else." Genis murmured scoffingly. All five school age kids glanced at each other again and groaned.

"Zelos is an idiot."

* * *

From his seat next to the glowing bridge that led to the warp point, Lloyd swung his legs back and forth out of trying to subdue the lingering feeling of boredom that had set in ever since they'd finally arrived at the very top of the tower's interior. When he asked if he could go with Kratos to the top of the tower, the lilliputian sword fighter was expecting a raft of challenging monsters and tough obstacles to meet him. Instead, all he managed to get was one strike on a stray monster and a brief scrape on another before Kratos deftly slew all of the targets and set back to the spiral ramp as if nothing had transpired. It wasn't that Kratos hadn't done that before, but the lack of inaction was starting to make Lloyd really pent up.

'I know I used to complain that he didn't let me do anything, but man, now he really ISN'T letting me do anything.' Lloyd grumbled internally while he watched the stoic seraphim out of the corner of his eye. Despite the fact he was being scrutinized by a six year old, Kratos didn't express any sign that he noticed Lloyd's intense stare, that or he just didn't care. All he did was gaze intently at a spot on the far wall with his arms folded against his chest, whatever he was pondering carefully concealed within the folds of his psyche.

Lloyd groaned. Any more of this and he was really going to lose it.

"I'm gonna go for a walk." The shrimpy swordsman announced suddenly, getting off of his seat and dusting himself off. He had to get up and move. It could've been his youthful energy or his lack of favoring staying stationary for very long, he wasn't really sure. At that moment he hardly could've cared less. The seraphim swordmaster glanced down at Lloyd as the boy prepared himself, this time making absolutely sure his swords were at his sides where they belonged, and raised an eyebrow, though the curtain of auburn hair shrouding his face mostly covered it.

"Where are you going?" He asked, his expression never changing from his usual taciturn demeanor, but his tone hinting interest.

"Just around the ramps. My knees and legs hurt like they're stretching out like rubber." Lloyd replied while he rotated his left shoulder to work out some stiffness. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He waited for a response, but none came to meet the impending silence that settled down between the pair of seraph and six year old. Lloyd looked over his shoulder at the antiquated angel who had apparently resumed his staring contest with the tiling and frowned.

'Why does he always do that?' Lloyd snorted, 'Does he think the wall's gonna stare back or-'

"Don't stray too far. There are monsters about." Kratos suddenly replied, causing Lloyd to jolt. Coughing into his hand, Lloyd did his best to hide his being startled, but since his hair had spiked out more than usual, his efforts were in vain.

"I've got my swords with me this time." The shrimpy swordsman patted the hilts of his miniature blades. "I can take care of myself." Not wasting any time, Lloyd turned on his heel and ran across the bridge of light, embarrassed that even then, Kratos still had an edge on him.

Once he was completely out of sight of the older man, Lloyd rested against the flat of the railing and ran a hand through his chestnut tresses. His attempt at breaking the barrier around Kratos once again failed miserably and the seraphim lord hadn't become any more talkative than he ever was, so in a nutshell Lloyd was back to square one.

"I thought the cracker would be a good ice breaker, but he didn't even eat it." The diminutive dual swordsman groaned out loud while beams of light danced down into the corridors through the glass panels on the ceiling. The radiant choruses of pure energy caught Lloyd's eye and turning his cherrywood eyes towards the windowed ceiling, the boy realized that dawn must've come much sooner than he'd originally thought. It was weird that whenever he was around Kratos, Lloyd always lost track of time or even the sense of how to tell it. He could tell when it was night or not, but Kratos' presence seemed to nullify the weight time could bear. Time would pass, but it didn't feel like the seraphim paid any attention to it at all, as if it was so trivial there was no point to pay it any mind.

'Geez, he's weird.' Lloyd blew a strand of brown hair off his nose and flopped his chin on his arm. 'Time's important, but I don't think he even cares if it's breakfast time or dinner. Hell, I don't think he even pays attention to eating. If it wasn't for others being around, I wonder if he'd ever eat at all-'

"Psst, Bud."

Lloyd blinked. Had someone whispered his name? And more specifically, had someone just called him 'Bud'. Lloyd wrinkled his nose. Only one person called him by that name, but not generally that quietly and no one had tackled him yet, so had he been imagining things again?

"Bud!" The voice hissed again and Lloyd turned just in time to see a flash of crimson hair duck behind a nearby alcove. Raising an eyebrow, he gripped the hilt of his swords, carefully walked over and peeked his head in to investigate.

Sure enough, there was Zelos had plastered himself to the side of the wall in the alcove, his neck craned out like a chicken inspecting the door to the coop for intruders.

"Zelos?" Lloyd asked incredulously, folding his arms against his slender chest. "What are you doing?"

"Preventing my own untimely demise." The chosen responded, his voice still in the same hushed whisper he'd used to beckon Lloyd over. "The old guy around?"

"Kratos? No, he's back up near the warp point."

"Sweet, that's great. I ran ahead to look for you without hopefully getting offed. Mission accomplished. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find you." Zelos let out a huge sigh of relief and peeled off the wall like a sticker on a sweater. Judging from the way he was breathing and his complete change in demeanor, he'd apparently been expecting a certain angel to appear out of the shadows and turn him into a pile of chosen pieces, or at least, that's what Lloyd figured.

"Why didn't you just call me?"

Zelos stared at him.

"... Bud, I hate it when you actually make a good point. Though, since that's awfully rare, I don't have to worry about loathing you."

"That's good to hear and... hey, wait a minute-"

"Lookie what I've got!" Zelos cut off Lloyd's budding indignation by thrusting what looked like a purple glass star in his face, nearly causing him to go cross eyed in the process.

"It's nice but... what is it?" Lloyd asked as he blinked a good few times in order to get his eyes back to the way they were supposed to be.

"Remember how you asked me how I get all the chicks?" Zelos waved his finger back and forth while his other hand clutched the bottle.

"Vaguely."

"Well, I know I can't bottle my attraction, because if I could I'd be ten times richer than I am now, but this'll just have to do. I got this sample from Regal. It's apparently an exotic aroma for attracting your soulmate."

"'Attracting my soulmate'?" Lloyd craned his neck in to look at the star shaped bottle and narrowed his eyes skeptically. "What kind of description is that?"

"I dunno, that's what it says on the bottle." Zelos gestured to the pink cursive label on the bottle and handed it over to Lloyd so he could examine in more closely. "It's a special cologne called 'Eau De Romance' and it's great for bringing people closer together..."

Lloyd frowned. 'Eau De Romance'? He didn't know why, but that name sounded awfully familiar, like he'd heard it before.

Wait.

The testing facility in Sybak, the one he'd been dragged to that smelled horrible. No, horrible was being far kinder than it deserved. The smell that was so powerfully horrendous that one of the interns had passed out because of it. That stench had been caused by a cologne hadn't it? What was the name? He couldn't remember...

'_That's 'Eau De Romance'' It's a cologne for attracting people.' _

The intern. That's where he'd heard it before, the intern had said it's name. It was THAT perfume. And Lloyd was holding it.

"... Bud? Yo, Bud? Reality to Lloyd, come in Lloyd!" Zelos snapped his fingers about an inch from Lloyd's nose. Rapidly and without warning, Lloyd shoved the bottle back into his thin breastbone so hard he almost got the wind knocked out of him.

"I don't want it." The brown haired boy took a step back while he eyed the bottle like it was an overripe tomato. Slightly taken aback, Zelos looked at his bud, then at the bottle that he now held again and glanced back at Lloyd, obviously confused on what just happened.

"What?" Zelos walked towards him with the bottle outstretched. "Aw, c'mon Bud, I worked so hard to get it-"

"No, you mooched off Regal again. You can keep it." Lloyd retorted curtly, his eyes never wavering from the bottle.

"Dude, seriously, this is a gift from the heart and you have the indecency to up and reject it without a second thought? I'm hurt, man."

"No way."

"C'mon, pretty please?"

"Not on a bet."

"It's just one little splash-"

"Not if you paid me!"

"Come on, Bud. I'm trying to help you out." Zelos fake sniffed and turned over the bottle with his finger like he was playing with his food. "Have a heart, will ya?" Lloyd scrutinized Zelos with a piercing gaze that would have made Kratos proud and eventually sighed in defeat. From the way Zelos was carrying on, it wouldn't be long before he brought out the lip quiver and the puppy eyes, and that was something Lloyd really didn't want to have to suppress if he could help it.

"... Fine."

"Bud!"

"But you have to carry it."

He'd take it, but it would be a cold day in hell before he carried it himself. If there was a leak in the bottle, he wasn't going to be the one who inadvertently got leaked on.

"Me? Why me?" The cherub chosen demanded, not happy with the idea of being a pack mule.

"Because you have pockets big enough for it and I don't." Lloyd retorted with the first thing that came to his mind. It was kind of lame, but hey, it was true. Lameness be damned.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Zelos shrugged, stuffing the bottle into his "Now, let's get this gravy train underway and get the last pact. Just show me the way to the top."

"Why do you need shown?" Lloyd asked curiously, his arms resting on the hilts of his swords. Zelos gave him a flat look.

"Dude, I've never freaking been here. Neither has Regal or the Little Miss, and the Professor, Brat and the Phantom Jubblies have the combined direction sense of a tree. Save me."

"Fine, I'll show you the way, but we should get the others too." Lloyd relented exasperatedly while he ran a hand through his hair. "Where are they?"

"They're down there." Zelos hooked a thumb over his shoulder towards the downward spiral of the ramp and folded his arms across his chest, his face in a scowl. "They sent me ahead to check it out and if I came back half eaten and or mauled, they'd know to go the other way." Sniffing, the cherubim chosen locked his arms around Lloyd's slim shoulders from behind and pretended to sob into his scarf.

"Feel sorry for me, Bud!" He wailed for added affect, though all it did was irritate Lloyd and get his scarf wet.

"Isn't that the same thing you did with me though?" The six year old swordsman pointed out with an aggravated glint in his eye. Zelos glanced up at Lloyd, sniffed again and wiped his face with Lloyd's scarf.

"Yeah, but... but this is me."

* * *

"Okay, you guys." Lloyd called to the others as they travelled up the ramp's slick and steep surface of the opposite stairwell. "The warp point is just up here." Thankfully he hadn't had to go up the same ramp twice, nor nearly at the same speed that Kratos had taken, so he hadn't had to sit out, which was a blessing. The last thing he wanted was to give Zelos more ammunition than he already had.

"Thanks, Lloyd." Genis happily trilled back. "I couldn't figure out why we'd gotten lost about halfway up there."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you let Sheena lead." Zelos' voice echoed wryly, "We'll all end up in down a hole without a chest-"

"YEOW!"

Lloyd cringed as the sound of fist meeting bone reverberated through the corridor and could only guess who had just hit whom.

"I'm gonna hit you!" Sheena hollered at the top of her lungs.

"That was a kick! Get your terms of abuse right!" Zelos barked back just as loudly while he clutched his battered cranium. "Oh, my poor head. Don't worry, I won't let the banshee get you anymore."

Lloyd smirked to himself. Nailed it. Once he reached the doorway that led to the series of light bridges, he rested his hands on the hilts of his swords and waited for the rest to catch up. He didn't have to wait all that long before the rest joined him, Sheena's hand locked on Zelos' ear, Zelos squalling in pain and the other four trying to pretend they didn't know either of them.

"One more crack about my chest and you're toast!"

"You'd have to have a chest first... uh oh." Zelos began but cut himself off as his eyes wandered up to the highest platform and his pulse quickened.

"What?" The miniature summoner asked, his sudden silence having thrown off her own rant, and let go of his ear. Stepping just out of her reach, Zelos raised his right arm and pointed to the top most platform, but more specifically, who was waiting there just for them.

"Him."

Everyone else turned their attention to where he pointed and a thick layer of anxiety sank onto all of them like a wool blanket draped on a wooden chair. While Lloyd was already very aware of the fact Kratos was standing near the warp point and had told them about it, none of the others truly realized or appreciated how close he was to the glowing blue circle. Seeing him standing right in between of their path and the point did not look too fantastic for their cause.

"Kratos." Sheena's breath hitched. Her expression and the lack of pallor on her face revealed that she remembered all too well what happened last time they'd all attempted to fight Kratos and just how well it went. Her face matched the others, even the ones who'd yet to taste what it was like to battle someone who they were no match against even on a good day.

"This bodes ill." Presea gripped the handle of her axe apprehensively. "It appears he is guarding the warp point."

"What do we do now?" Zelos groaned in anguish. "We can't fight our way through like this. One attack and we'll all be crispy critters."

"Maybe we should try a distraction." Regal suggested from off to the side. Within seconds, everyone, save Lloyd, became engrossed in a heated debate on the best way to deter Kratos long enough to get past him, from a rushed attack to hypnosis to hurling a tomato at him.

Of course, no one went with Zelos' suggestion and after Sheena whacked him in the arm, they quickly resumed their discussion. Lloyd, meanwhile, thought quietly to himself and peered up at Kratos, who from what he could gather, had already become aware of their presence, yet patiently waited in his place, never moving a muscle. Frowning, Lloyd steeled his resolve and marched over to his friends, his eyes gleaming with determination.

"Okay, so the plan is to have Raine cast barrier on all of us, attack him with a rush, scramble around him while he's in a daze and then reach the warp point, hopefully getting to the top of the tower with all of our limbs intact-"

"Hold on, you guys." The slight swordsman interjected, derailing their plan for the time being. "I'll try talking to him."

Everyone looked at Lloyd like he'd sprouted an arm out of his head.

"What? Are you nuts?" Zelos gawked in horror, latching onto Lloyd's shoulders. "That's suicide!"

"Maybe, but look. He helped me out this far, so maybe he'll help me out again." Lloyd shrugged Zelos off his clavicles and looked them all in the eye. "It's worth a shot."

"Lloyd, that's walking into a death trap." The professor refuted. "You need to remember that Kratos is an enemy now and approaching him by yourself isn't just foolish, it's unsafe-"

"Neither is anything else that we've done, but that hasn't stopped us before, now has it?" The six year old swordsman countered tersely. "Besides, my plan doesn't have to add losing arms as a side factor."

"I'll give it a try." Flipping his scarf over his shoulder, Lloyd marched across the light bridges and up the stairs towards where the angel of death stood, ready for their impending arrival. The rest of his friends watched him for a moment before they all travelled in his wake, though none of them looked particularly positive about Lloyd's grand master plan.

"If all else fails, we stick to plan B." Zelos whispered to the others, who quickly nodded in agreement. Lloyd's plans didn't usually fail, but when they did, they failed spectacularly.

Once the leader of their little band made it to the top platform that joined the stairwells and the bridge that led to Kratos and the warp point, Lloyd squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and locked his eyes on Kratos' one eye that he could make out between the veil of auburn hair.

"I see you're back from your walk." The angelic lord glanced at Lloyd, though he didn't move.

"Hi, Kratos." The slender brat waved at the elder seraphim as he took a step across the bridge towards him. "Look, I found all my friends. Isn't that great?" The elder angel's drifted to the gaggle of grade schoolers led by Lloyd, but remained silent as his attention shifted back to the spiky haired boy who'd taken the role of ringleader yet again. Lloyd meanwhile, felt the awkwardness of the situation sink into his bone marrow and he inwardly grimaced on how uncomfortable this was getting.

"... Er, yeah, so we need to get through the warp point. If you would just move so we could get through-"

"No."

If he hadn't caught himself at the last minute, Lloyd would have gaped at him like a beached fish. He'd had the feeling Kratos would at first be somewhat resistant to his request, but his flat out rejection had left Lloyd at a slight loss. Still, he wasn't about to let a complete and utter repudiation destroy his resolve. He had to reason with him somehow, make him see how splitting the worlds was vital in order to save the world.

If he could only remember how to talk.

"'But... but we need to make the last pact and split the worlds so everyone will be alright-"

"I cannot allow you to make the last pact." Kratos interjected coolly, his left hand gripping the hilt of his sword.

"Why not?" Lloyd demanded, fixing a fiercely passionate glare at Kratos.

"Because he's working for Cruxis, that's why!" Zelos shouted from across the bridge, his sword drawn and gripped tightly in his fist. The others, while they'd waited a bit longer than Zelos to get armed, also held onto their weapons. No matter what Lloyd thought, an enemy was still and enemy and one of this caliber was not to be given a chance to strike preemptively.

"He's not moving." Sheena whispered to Raine. "Should we fight now?"

"No, give Lloyd some more time." Raine shook her head. However, Kratos seemed completely numb to their battle stances. He just stood there, eyes focused in on Lloyd, who was staring back just as intently. Lloyd kept his ground, hoping that Kratos would at least give an explanation for why he wouldn't let them pass. Though, his track record was against him on that area.

Thankfully, this time the track record was wrong.

"Hear me out. The Derris Kharlan Core System finished calculating its answer." Kratos told them all seriously, his baritone voice sending chills up the spine of everyone in the room. "If you make the last pact, the protection around the Great Seed will disappear."

"And that is exactly what we desire!"

Before Lloyd registered what was going on, a blast of pure, devastating mana soared inches above his head and Kratos leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the flare from hitting him in the chest. Everyone reeled around in astonishment to see Yuan seemingly glide across the bridge and aim another volt of destructive energy at Kratos, successfully cornering him.

"Yuan!" Lloyd exclaimed, completely ignoring that his head had almost gotten a sunroof. Yuan glanced over his shoulder at Lloyd, nodded once acknowledging him and swiftly faced Kratos again, the ball of mana still erupting from his palm. Taking the opportunity, the rest quickly breached the space across the bridge so they all squished together in a sort of phalanx formation and watched Yuan intently for a signal that he had the situation under control. What they instead ended up watching was one chosen of Sylvarant perched on Yuan's cape like a flying squirrel who'd just made landing contact with a tree.

"Hi everyone!" Colette chirped as she scrambled down the cape and trotted over towards them. "It's so good to see you all again."

"Colette!" Lloyd and the others rushed to welcome her into the protective formation before she got caught in the incoming crossfire between the two seraphim as quickly as they could. While they would have liked to inquire as to how she'd been and what she'd learned, there were more important things to worry about, more specifically, when they'd have a chance to get through to the warp point without getting accidentally shot.

"Don't you understand? What you're hoping for will not happen!" Kratos vehemently argued as he stared down Yuan, his hand curled into a fist and his eyes burning with conviction

"Silence! Do you think we'll pass up this opportunity?" Yuan rebuked stridently, the energy blast still aimed for Kratos' heart. From the front of the band of fighters who slowly inched their way towards the warp point, Lloyd eyed the pair of seraphim, his eyebrows tapered down in a frown. What was that supposed to mean? 'Not happen'? And Kratos, Kratos was really fighting this, more than someone who was just following orders. He seemed really determined on stopping them.

Something... something didn't feel right.

"What are you talking about?" The valiant whelp asked suspiciously, taking a step away from his friends towards the angels, even though they desperately tried pulling him back in. "If the protection around the Great Seed disappears, than the seed will germinate, right?"

"Not in the way you intend." Kratos stated seriously, still watching the mana aimed his way. "Instead it will-"

"Lloyd, don't listen to him!" Yuan roughly interjected, the mana in his palm flaring dangerously. "Go now, form the last pact with the summon spirit of light! I can hold him off from here!" Shocked back into the here and now by Yuan's unbridled command, Lloyd turned to his companions, took in a deep breath and turned back, his eyes burning with newfound resolve. He couldn't get cold feet this far in. He had to do this for the good of everyone and this was no time to be having second thoughts.

"Right!" The pint-sized swordsman agreed in compliance and dove for the glowing warp point, his friends hot on his heels. His shoes clicked across the polished stone floor, while sounds of the two seraph's struggling for power over the other, Kratos trying to find an opening to dive through and Yuan defending for all he was worth, echoing dully in his ears. They were probably much louder than Lloyd heard, but all of the adrenaline rushed inside his head and deafened his ears to the outside world. They were going to do it, they were finally going to split apart Tethe'alla and Sylvarant and free the grip Cruxis held upon both worlds and their people. His plan was coming to fruition. Colette wouldn't have to be sacrificed and everyone would be able to live without being subjected to suffering.

It was finally going to happen.

Three feet, two feet, one foot, just within touching distance, he was almost there.

Sinking his foot into the floor, Lloyd bounded into the air and dove straight for the warp point, his fingers barely grazing the warm blue light that emanated from the mysterious pad, just beckoning for him to enter-

"Lloyd, I forbid you going through that warp point!"

Like a streak of lightning, Lloyd's body ricocheted off the point like he'd been shot out of a high pressure water cannon and sent him hurtling backwards into the air. The force propelled the thin boy through the room until he slammed into the side of the brick and mortar wall with a crunch. All nine of them stared in horrified shock as Lloyd stayed there for a second and then limply slid down like a rag doll on a string. Colette screamed, Sheena covered her hands with her mouth, Zelos stared in horror with his mouth ajar, Genis swallowed hard, as did Regal and Raine, and even Presea's taciturn face was overcome with panic. Immediately they all rushed to their lilliputian leader to see if he was still among the living. Miraculously enough, he was in fact still conscious, just a tad more purple than before.

Lloyd peeked an eye open and groaned. Ooh, he was going to feel that later. His back stung like crazy and his eyes watered, which he imagined his muscles would've if they'd had the ability to make tears. Although he never would have admitted it, Colette was right when she'd said that people feel better when they cry. Was that why his eyes were watering? So he'd feel better? If anything, right then he was wishing his muscles had those glands that let people cry so they'd feel better faster. What did the professor call them? 'Tear ducks'? Lloyd didn't have the slightest clue what water fowl had to do with crying, but if they did, then more power to them he guessed.

"Bud, you okay?" Zelos asked as he propped Lloyd up with the flat of his arm and snapped a finger in front of his face.

"Muscles... should have ducks too." He mumbled while he still rested against the chosen's arm.

Zelos stared at him.

"I think he hit his head harder than we thought."

"I'm alright... damn, that hurt." Lloyd groaned as he snapped out of his runaway train of thought through cloud-cuckoo-land and gingerly leaned forward so he could sit by himself. Despite his affirmation that he was alright, his friends swarmed around him like a pack of mothering hens, poking, prodding and generally making a fuss.

"What's wrong with him?" Colette asked worriedly, "Why'd he fly through the air like someone hurled him?"

"It's the spell binding contract." Raine responded curtly while she checked Lloyd's vitals and pupils to make sure he hadn't sustained a concussion. "He can't disobey any order Kratos gives him as long as that contract is intact."

"Damn it, now what do we do?" Zelos swore as he helped Lloyd to his feet. Lloyd was still a little shaky, but for the most part he managed to stand on his own adequately enough.

From across the room however, both Yuan and Kratos' attention had been diverted to the group of kids formerly known as adults albeit only momentarily, one staring in shock, and the other a mixture of surprise and bittersweet amusement.

"Hm. Well done." Yuan commented sardonically, the bullet of mana he held in his palm still poised to strike Kratos' chest without a moment's notice. The auburn angel didn't respond. His gaze was still honed in on the boy who'd just shooed Zelos away and tried to stand by himself, only to have his knees buckle and the tethe'allan chosen to catch him under his arm, which in turn made the elder angel's breath hitch.

"You're awfully paler than usual." The half elf added offhandedly, scanning in every minute detail of his counterpart. "It's as if you actually _care_ for the boy."

"... tch." Kratos' cheek twitched.

"So what, that's three for three?" Yuan egged on, trying to get a rise out of him. "You've got quite a track record there. If you just let them all get through, this never would have happened-"

Before the half elf renegade commander could finish, Kratos unleashed a double demon fang and successfully derailed Yuan's position along with his conversation. Yuan quickly dodged to the side in order to miss the attacks, but when he realized what had happened it was too late. Kratos had taken the opportunity and side stepped back between the warp point and the others, once again blocking them from getting to the top.

"I will not allow anyone to get past me." The angel of death decreed, power radiating from his voice as he pointed the tip of his sword towards them challengingly. "This includes you, Yuan."

While he'd missed everything else that had transpired between the pair, Lloyd heard that part. Letting out a yell of frustration, the slender six year old punched the floor so hard his knuckles began to bleed. He was so close, so close to getting through, and in one swift motion, the carpet had been ripped out from under his feet, so to speak. He'd been stupid enough to waste time second guessing and now even Yuan, the perfect distraction, was at a disadvantage. It was all his fault. He had to think of something, anything, that would get his friends through that warp point.

"Great. We're screwed." Zelos groaned in defeat while Lloyd scrambled to his feet, his equilibrium having finally returned. Lloyd wrinkled his nose at him. He could at least have been helpful instead of just standing there doing nothing like yesterday's smelly socks-

... wait.

His eyes the size of dinner plates, Lloyd slowly turned his head like it was on an axis and fixated on the lamenting chosen, his face blank.

"Up the river, down the well and there's no trusty dog in sight, up the creek without a paddle and the boats got a leak- what the hell?" Zelos' rant of despair was rudely disrupted when Lloyd tackled him to the ground and began rummaging through Zelos' coat like a weasel searching for chicken eggs.

"What they hell are you doing to me? I know I'm unbelievably gorgeous, but come on!" The chosen demanded heatedly as the younger boy patted one of the lower pockets, narrowed his eyes and dove a hand into the folds of pink fabric. Less than five seconds later, Lloyd scrambled to his feet, the star bottle of Eau De Romance grasped tightly in his fist and held it high over his head.

"EVERYONE RUN!" Lloyd bellowed and slammed the bottle towards the tile floor as hard as he could. When it collided with the marble tiling, the star bottle shattered into a thousand pieces, unleashing a stench so vile that even the dead were rolling around in utter agony.

It didn't do too much for the living either.

Instantly the platform was enveloped in a cloud of purple noxious fumes that blinded and gassed everyone in the vicinity, angel or not. That perfume wasn't on anyone's side, nor did it have a preference. Its goal was to reek everyone out of existence and so far, it was doing a superb job. Everyone staggered away from where they had been before, some covering their eyes, others their faces and everyone their noses.

"Urgh, the smell!" Sheena stuck her nose under her yellow kerchief and groaned, trying to wave it away from her face.

"I can't see!" Colette squealed in agony as she ran around, tripped, and fell on her face.

"It's impossible to breathe through this, we'll surely suffocate!" The petite president reported, though it was incredibly difficult to understand him. The scent was affecting his voice.

"Somebody open a window!" Zelos hollered as he ripped off his headband and held it to his nose for protection.

"There aren't any windows!" Raine's voice rang back through the blinding purple haze.

"This is not suitable for sentient being living conditions." Presea's voice added. "We must evacuate."

"How about this? Wind blade!"

"You're just spreading it around!" Lloyd yelled at Genis, though his senses were really damaged by what he'd just unleashed and his voice was muffled by the scarf he held over his nose. "Run for it!"

The sound of shuffling feet and pattering echoed through the hall as they made their way, albeit much more drunkenly than before, and larger steps sounded like they were attempting to reach the warp, but another kept getting in the former's way. To be honest, it sounded more like a two step done by a pair of raccoons who'd gotten into a potion cellar. Lloyd made to take a step forward, his scarf still held to his face, but he tripped and fell as the stench had messed up his equilibrium so much he couldn't stand at all, let alone walk in a straight line. Even his scarf that he'd been using as a makeshift mask wasn't enough to deter the scent. The odor from that so called 'love potion' was so strong, the scent scrambled his senses and made him lightheaded and nauseous.

It was too much. Lloyd couldn't take it anymore. Gasping for air, clean air, Lloyd sank to all fours with his palms planted on the tiling, his eyes watering like facets and his lungs on fire. It was like everything inside his body was melting each time he took a breath and his organs were trying to implode sheerly out of self defense. He honestly thought he was going to die.

As the fumes began to spread out around the room and disperse so they weren't so concentrated, Lloyd realized that in an attempt to protect himself, he'd curled into a little ball onto the floor, while his exsphere glowed unnaturally brightly. Unfortunately, his senses had been rattled by the cologne's smell, he wouldn't have noticed if it had done a tap dance across his forehead and then smacked him in the nose.

"What an.. atrocious odor..." Yuan grimaced through the thick fabric of his cape that he'd used as a last minute gas mask. It hadn't worked very well, but the close quartered weave had slowed down some of the stench from thoroughly jamming his senses.

Unfortunately, the others hadn't been so lucky.

"I don't feel too good." Colette whimpered from where she laid on her side in a huddled heap, her hair every which way while she clutched at her stomach.

"I'm dying over here!" Zelos yowled angrily, which was then followed by a severe coughing fit. "I'm too pretty to die and when this kills me, my hair's gonna reek! I don't want people to go to my funeral and say 'The Chosen, how sad he croaked, but why does he smell like death, no pun intended?' Not on my list of plans, thanks and I'm..." All of a sudden, the mouthy chosen turned an unsettling shade of green, his eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth.

"I'm gonna be sick." Rushing over to the rail, Zelos gripped the bars, leaned over the side and threw up. Lloyd groaned and held his own stomach, praying the chosen's retching wouldn't set off a chain reaction that made everyone else follow his lead. Judging from the greenish pallor that everyone left in the room had, it wouldn't take much. Hell, even Kratos looked ill.

Lloyd would have gawked if that hadn't required focused vision. Kratos, who Lloyd had never, _ever_ seen looking anywhere close to sick, looked dreadful. His bright auburn hair contrasted heavily with the sickly green complexion that he now sported and the seraphim swordmaster held his head with his left hand in an attempt to keep it straight, though his right held the hilt of sword and pointed it deftly at Yuan, poised and ready to strike. Lloyd snorted, though he quickly regretted it as a throbbing feeling erupted through his temples and made him cringe. Even when he looked like he was about to keel over, Kratos was still ready for any attack thrown his way.

From where he stood between the warp point and the rest of them, the seraphim deftly scanned the room for top to bottom and inhaled sharply in his version of a gasp when he realized only four people were still there.

"Damn it, no!" Kratos swore and darted for the still glowing warp point, but Yuan swerved in front of him at the last minute, brought back his freshly summoned butterfly sword and rammed it into Kratos' side. Kratos managed to block it before it struck home, but the force alone knocked him back two meters, just enough for Yuan to sidestep in between the warp point and Kratos, completely reversing their respective roles.

"Don't think I'm just going to let you stop Martel finally achieve peace!" The blue half elf declared fiercely, his swallow sword gripped tautly in his hand. "You won't stop this. I'll make sure of it."

Through his cologne induced haze, something in what Yuan had said sparked a flare of interest in Lloyd, enough so that he pulled himself into a sitting position despite the avid protests from his head. He knew that Yuan was adamant on making sure that Martel's soul was absorbed by the great seed and thus allowing it to germinate, that much was self explanatory, and it could have been the perfume migraine talking, but from the way Yuan had said it, it sounded far more personal than when he'd explained his stance before at the palmacosta ranch ruins.

"You idiot, can't you see that this will only prolong her suffering, along with the suffering of countless others!" Kratos shot back tersely, though just as forcefully. "And you brought people into this who shouldn't have even been involved in the first place for your own selfish ends!"

"That's rich coming from you. You, the one of us most guilty of that little fact!" Yuan countered as he sideswiped his butterfly sword at Kratos, who blocked it with the flat of his own sword, both of which were pretty amazing given the amount of noxious gas they'd inhaled. "Or should I remind you about all your little escapades from when you defected, not to mention what just happened-"

Paling suddenly, the blue haired half elf ducked, barely missing a lightning blade that had been aimed at his head by his now very angry adversary. The age old angelic being merely smirked, raised his swallow sword and charged.

"What the hell are they arguing about?" Lloyd pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration while Zelos hung on the safety bars like a limp rag doll left out on a clothesline to dry.

"Who cares?" Zelos moaned as he slid off the railing and became a big pile of nauseous seven year old goo. Losing what he had gotten out of his snowcone over the side of the platform's rail had left him ragged and worse for wear, and he was not in the mood for semantics via a pair of ancient curmudgeons.

"Hey... Bud."

"... yeah?" Lloyd exhausted raised his eyes at the ill acolyte.

"Was that... the reason why you didn't want it?"

"Yeah."

"I see. Then I'm not upset anymore." Zelos flopped his arm over his face and groaned. "Urgh, I think I'm gonna be sick again."

"Be sick over there." Lloyd retorted, scooting away from Zelos in case he got nauseous again and didn't make it to the rail in time.

"Did anyone manage to make it through?" Colette asked through the curtain of yellow hair that obstructed most of her face.

"I think so." Lloyd lifted the rogue strand of his hair out of his face and glanced around. He wasn't sure exactly who all had gotten through, though it had grown much quieter than before, save the two angels battling on the far end of the platform.

"Who's left?" The red clad boy asked as he leaned back on his hands for support, his skull aflame with agony.

"Me." Zelos feebly lifted an arm and dropped it back on the ground with a flump.

"I'm here too." Colette flipped her hair back behind her where it belonged and coughed into the hem of her white dress.

"Then everyone else must have gotten through." Lloyd let out a sigh of relief. His impromptu plan had worked.

"Yeah, except you, me, Miss Angel, and those two bickering old men got through." Zelos added, propping himself up on his elbows. "I'm just happy Sheena the Shriek got through. What good's fighting a summon spirit if you don't have a summoner? At least they were able to get through without the gas killing them like it did us. Why the hell did it do that?"

"I dunno, we were closer to the good part of it, maybe?" Lloyd suggested, picking up his scarf and breathing into it, only to reel back in disgust as the perfume stench had sunk into it.

"It felt like everything was melting, even my wings." Colette nodded in agreement. "I felt like I was gonna die."

"That's what I felt like too."

"That's getting thirded." The coquettish chosen stuck his hand in the air in agreement, though that's all of him that moved. "But more importantly, how do we get up there and help them out?"

"I don't know that either, but we should find a way and fast." Lloyd responded, his eyebrows tapered in a scowl. "We can't go through there with those guys in the way, so everyone try to think of something." All three school age whelps nodded to each other and began to think as hard as they could for any ideas on how to help their compatriots were most likely at that point well underway with the battle between Luna and Aska.

"We sneak past the old guys?" Zelos suggested to the six year old swordsman at his left.

"No good, it's too dangerous." Lloyd replied, not even looking at Zelos. "We'll get hit, even if not on purpose."

"Distract them?"

"What about the window?"

"No windows."

"Crud. What about distracting them?"

"Only if you're the one doing the distracting."

"Then YOU think of something!" Zelos snapped, eyebrow twitching. "No, if we wait for you to have a thought, we might be here until we're as old as they are!"

"Hey, shut it!" Lloyd roared back, his mood matching Zelos' in sheer foulness.

"YOU shut it!"

However, in that moment, an aftershock of mana that sounded like the crack of a whip surged through the building, catching all five of them off guard momentarily.

"What happened?" Lloyd exclaimed as he gaped at the ceiling with wide eyes.

"The fight's been won! That release of mana always happens when the summon spirits lose!" Zelos grinned and bounded to his feet, his nausea long forgotten. "They did it!" The fighting lost to their short term memory as well, Lloyd, Colette and Yuan also thrilled, but the last occupant of the platform didn't seem nearly as happy. Taking the advantage of the pause, Kratos forced Yuan's butterfly sword back, held his sword down at his side and dashed for the warp point mere feet away.

"Don't think you're getting in my way again, Kratos!" Yuan ducked under Kratos' arm, elbowed him in the ribs out of the way and vaulted for the warp point, which glowed a brighter blue once he stepped through.

"Yuan, stop!" Kratos called as he quickly pursued and jumped into the warp point just in time to be teleported along with Yuan.

"Hey, wait for us!" Zelos bellowed after the angels, but his cries fell on deaf ears. The seraphim of old faded from sight, both headed for the top of the tower.

* * *

"Agreed. Our power is Thine." Luna gracefully bowed her head to the five children in front of her, Aska doing the same. With one smooth flick of her staff, a glimmer of light radiated from the sky as a small topaz ring floated downwards and Sheena leapt to catch it. Sliding the polished gem on her middle finger, the slender summoner beamed at Luna, her puff frilled with joy, who smiled back warmly and quickly dissipated from the grounds. Aska cawed his farewell as well, took to the sky and flew off into the distance.

Once the summon spirits of light were no longer present, the smile faded from Sheena's face and she collapsed to her hands and knees, thoroughly whipped. She'd done her best as a summoner to keep herself professional in front of the spirits, but there was only so much one six year old could take before it finally caught up with her. The others had already beaten her to sitting on the ground, Genis on all fours with his head bowed, Regal healing a wound Regal had sustained on his shoulder from Aska's pecking, and Presea had sunk to the floor as well, the flat of her axe propped up on her knees.

"That... wasn't fun." Genis wiped his brow with his shirt sleeve and exhaled exhaustedly, his kendama flattened between his palm and the floor. "But we won."

"While that was indeed difficult, I'm glad my status didn't change my prowess in battle. This is satisfactory." Presea returned as she wiped off some grime her axe had sustained with a grey cloth she carried in her hat. Sheena observed the pink axe girl skeptically and coughed into her hand.

"If you say so. I feel like mud." The raven haired ninja sat with a flump next to her friends.

"You and everyone else who inhaled that insidious stench." Raine replied coolly, "Regal, that came from your company did it not?"

"I believe it may have." Regal nodded gingerly while he rubbed his still stiff shoulder. "If so, I will look into it and quickly discontinue that abominable product before Cruxis employs it as a torture device."

"Geez, that'd be scary." Genis shuddered.

"You did it!"

Blinking, Sheena, Genis, Raine, Regal and Presea quickly swiveled around to see a gaggle of people running up towards them, Yuan in the lead, though Kratos wasn't too far behind.

"No!" The auburn haired seraph cursed as the last of the light residue faded from the skyline.

"Good job everyone!" Colette beamed at her friends, her golden hair flouncing about her face.

"Yo, my hunnies, looks like you did pretty well, even without my assistance." Zelos added flashing them a thumbs up and winking. "Good for you." Sheena snorted and gave him a dirty look.

"Way to kill the mood, Zelos."

Before the second grade swordsman had time to retort with a sarcastic remark, the floor underneath their feet began to rumble violently, tossing them all left and right about the balcony.

"What's happening?" Zelos hollered as he held onto part of the rail for support so he too didn't go airborne like the others had.

"The worlds must be splitting apart!" Sheena barked back while she clawed at a few of the stones on the floor, her nails digging deep into the earth. Swallowing hard because his mouth was dry from inhaling dust when he hit the ground, Genis managed to scramble onto his hands and knees and brush his hair out of his eyes so he could see again. Though what he saw only made his mouth run dryer.

The altar was glowing.

"Guys..."

"Man, that must be some heavy duty work it's having to do." Zelos commented.

"Guys-"

"Well, duh, they're on different dimensions. You think it'd be like tearing tissue paper?" Sheena shot back.

"GUYS!"

"What?" Both summoner and chosen snapped crossly at the half elf preschooler. Genis didn't look at their glares, but only shakily pointed to the altar.

"The altar's glowing..."

"What? Why?" Sheena gaped at the blue pearls of light that poured out of the altar like a sort of mana bubble machine.

"It's starting." Kratos stated frigidly, his gaze fixed on the altar and his jaw tightened.

"What's starting?" Presea asked curiously, her white and black beret having slid a tad too forward and obscuring part of her face.

"The splitting of the worlds, duh." Zelos replied casually, though as casual as he'd been trying to project, he'd yet to let go of the railing.

"Not even close." Kratos responded, his voice constricted and strained. "We need to get off this tower. NOW." Regarding the older seraph, Zelos tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? What do you mean- HOLY MOTHER OF MITHOS!"

A pillar of light, one that would've rivaled the Tower of Salvation in sheer thickness, plowed upward into the sky like a rocket of energy, instantly silencing the chosen and throwing him back onto the small of his back. The others also reeled away in shock and the force emanating from the column of mana, Yuan included, with only Kratos having anchored his stance so he'd still stood erect.

"Do you have Rheiards?" The angel of death swiftly addressed the miniature assassin who'd landed near his left leg.

"Yeah, some of us do!" Sheena nodded rapidly from where she'd fallen, her puff spiked every which way. "Zelos and I shared one and Presea and Regal did too!" The antiquated angel nodded once to the petite ninja and sharply shifted his attention to Yuan, who'd managed to find his footing once again.

"How many can you carry?" Kratos demanded over the blaring roar of the light streak.

"I can carry up to three." Yuan shouted back and turned to the former adults who'd been thrown about all over the place. "Two to a rheaird, go!"

Wasting no time, Presea and Sheena retrieved the rheiards and everyone scrambled for them, with Regal and Sheena on one rheiard, Presea on the other with a certain half elf at her heels. Though it took him a moment to reach, Genis clamored onto the aircraft with Presea driving and clung to her middle, a satisfied smile plastered on his youthful face. Zelos noticed his happiness, sighed and shook his head.

"Yeesh, even when in a panic, your crush withstands." Zelos smirked. "How cute." Genis narrowed his eyes at the sarcastic seven year old and glared at him.

"It's better than being stuck with you." He retorted. "You smell funky." Genis then stuck out his tongue for good measure, nodded satisfied with himself and resumed clinging to Presea, smug expression and all. Obviously the comment about the 'funky smell' struck a nerve because Zelos folded his arms against his chest and pouted with all his might, even when Yuan picked him up under one arm.

"'Funky smell', hah! I'll have you know that's not even my fault this time, it's Lloyd's and..."

"... hey, wait a minute." The second grade chosen wrinkled his nose in confusion and quickly stared at his friends, those on the rheairds and Raine and Colette, one who was under the other arm, and the latter having scrambled back to her spot on the half elf seraphim's shoulder. Frowning, Zelos pointed at each of them one by one, and when he finished, raised one scarlet eyebrow.

"... where's Lloyd?"

* * *

**And that's the end of another chapter.**

**Genis: That's great and all, but are you gonna tell us the results of the Popularity contest?**

**Me: Oh, right, of course. Okay, here are the 2010 ToS official popularity results from the ToS Tethe'alla Arc website from top to bottom.**

**Zelos**

**Lloyd**

**Kratos**

**Colette**

**Presea**

**Sheena**

**Genis**

**Regal**

**Yuan and Mithos at a tie for ninth**

**Raine**

**Corrine**

**Alicia and Botta in a tie for thirteen**

**Magnius**

**Alright and there you have it.**

**Genis: You don't sound too surprised.**

**Me: No, not really. Those three are always the top three most popular ones from ToS in the popularity polls. The only variation is order. One year in the collective 'Tales of' contest, it was Kratos, Zelos, Lloyd, then another year it was Lloyd, Kratos, Zelos and now it's Zelos, Lloyd, Kratos for just the localized ToS tethe'alla arc anime popularity contest. Order was the only one I was unsure of. I would have liked Kratos to win, but third place is still fairly respectable. Besides, in the whole 'Tethe'alla arc' Kratos has had barely any screen time at all and, not counting flashbacks and the omakes, only three lines so far. I think that's pretty good overall.**

**Kratos: Rub it in why don't you?**

**Me: It's nothing personal, just a fact. I'm not happy with it, but I don't make the shots so it's not up to me. Here's hoping for the fourth episode. Though, that part wasn't what was bugging me about this popularity contest.**

**Genis: Really?**

**Me: Yeah. Why did Magnius of all people make it to the popularity list? I would have thought Forcystus would've made it if any of the Grand Cardinals did, but apparently I was mistaken.**

**Lloyd: Yeah, that was kinda strange.**

**Me: Tell me about it. I wonder what they'll use this data for.**

**Genis: Probably nothing.**

**Me: Who knows? Still, I bet they will... I'm just not sure with what yet.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	22. The Iselia Infiltration

**Authors note: **

**What is this? A new update? Finally!**

**I was going to come up with a clever poem to lead into this chapter, but I quickly realized that would mean more work, so I scrapped that idea. So, here it is. Yeah.**

**Also, I found out what the popularity contest was for. The results were for a calendar. The five most popular characters get featured on the front cover and there are six pictures with two months each, not counting the cover of course.**

**However, there is one little problem.**

**Since Tales is rather specialized in its clientele, the calendar has a very limited run and aren't shipping overseas. So I am now ToS calendar-less as will be many people.**

**Oh well. So much for that plan.**

**Ah well, better get on with it. First and foremost, thanks to all of you who read, favorited, alerted, or did a combo of the aforementioned and everlasting gratitude to **_**RadonMax, freakyanimegal, Jet Set Yoyo, Kiomori, Skylarkchild, AngelofaWhiteNight, ThePurpleRose, Arisu Tsuranu, Empty Puppet, Cruxis' Kingdom Heart Cherubim, silent romantic, vienrider, Higashikaze, Insane Marth fangirl, Destiny's Light, Burenda, Aschenhimmel**_**, **_**Oni-deity, FifthDayofMay**_** and **_**The RPer's HELL group**_** for commenting. If I could, I'd give all of you readers calendars, but since I can't even give myself one, warm wishes for magical calendars to appear are all I can do.**

**And now for the disclaimer.**

**I don't own ToS or the characters or Namco. If I did... well, let me tell you I'd have a freaking calendar right now.**

**Also, the popularity contest results get mentioned in the latest omake, so be sure to keep that in mind. Happy release day everybody!**

Chapter Twenty Two: The Iselia Infiltration

"Let. Me. THROUGH!" Lloyd bellowed fiercely as he charged at the warp point's blue sheen. Like it had in the past five times he'd attempted, the warp point repelled him like a bungee cord when its rider hit the end of the tether and sprung him back across the room until he braked using the wall. And, also like those five times prior, Lloyd slid down the brick wall and landed with a flump on the floor, looking pain stricken and put out at the same time.

"... okay, that hurt. One more time." The lilliputian boy ran a hand through his sweat soaked chestnut hair and shimmied his way up the wall until he was standing again. Ever since Zelos and Colette had chased both the seraphim through the portal to the terrace that held the resting place of Luna, he'd done his best to pursue them, but since a certain contract barred him from disobeying a certain person's commands, he had been SOL so far.

"Stupid contract, stupid magic, stupid Kratos, now what the hell am I supposed to do?" Lloyd muttered under his breath loudly for all the tiles to hear as he readied himself for another body slam. "I can't exactly wish myself up there, now can I?" Pausing a moment, Lloyd raised an eyebrow as he pondered what he just said, shut his eyes and scrunched his nose up, deep in thought. Thirty seconds later, he peeked open an eye and sighed dejectedly, his shoulders slumped. Nope, definitely couldn't wish himself there. Exhaling in defeat, the tiny tot turned his attention back towards his latest adversary and pointed a very striking finger at the glowing circle.

"I know I'm not really the type to try and reason with things before I act, but since I've figured out that you're not going to bow down to brute force, I'm going to have to do things a little different." Lloyd stated to the point as if it actually was paying attention to him. "I'm going to ask nicely. I need to reach the topmost part of this tower and it's really important. Please let me through." Feeling a tad proud for being more of a facilitating pacifist than he thought possible, Lloyd strode forward and stepped into the light, a newfound sense of righteousness flowing through his petite frame.

In response, the warp jettisoned him into the air like a bottle rocket.

"Aaaiiieee!" Lloyd shrieked as he soared through the room until he landed on the far side of the platform, his spine breaking his fall. The impact left him flat on his back, giving him the impression of a turtle who'd been used as a kickball and had consequently deflated while upside down. Lloyd stayed like that for a few minutes while his pain receptors processed the signals of agony sent from all over his body, varying them by degree of intensity and stacking them by level of importance. Thankfully most of the initial pain of colliding with the floor back first went away quickly enough, though his tailbone bordered on striking and was readying the picketing signs.

"Oh, come on!" Lloyd demanded exasperatedly as he dragged himself gingerly back upwards, a lovely purple bruise forming on the small of his back. "Let me through, you stupid excuse for a glow ring!" Unfortunately, the warp point, while immune to words of diplomacy, was also immune to insults, so it glowed at him indifferently, which in turn only fueled his determination.

"Look you, I tried being nice. Alright, that was AFTER the bodyslams, but at least I made an effort." The shrunken swordsman narrowed his eyes at the point. "I'm willing to work here for a solution and I'm not getting any cooperation from you, so what do you have to say for yourself?"

'Nothing Lloyd. It's a warp point. It can't talk.' Genis' voice echoed disdainfully through his head. Lloyd wrinkled his nose and frowned.

'I know that. Stop taking things so literally, jeez.' He countered crankily and shook his head. He could argue with imaginary constructs of his friend later. Right now, he had to negotiate with the warp or rather the spell barring him from accessing said point. He had been focusing all of his energy at the warp, but after all, wasn't it the spell that was keeping him from his goal? It made more sense he try to negotiate with the spell, as much sense as any of that made at all.

"Look spell thing that's keeping me from doing whatever Kratos forbids, I understand that you're an all powerful spell or contract, or whatever the hell you are that's keeping me under the thumb of that stupid adoption paper and I respect that." Lloyd took a step forward and squared his shoulders. "There's just something you need to understand about me."

"I'm stubborn, probably to the point of being stupid. I'm not the type who quits just 'cause someone else wants me to. Until you let me through, I'm just going to keep on charging. So, you've got two choices. Either you can let me through now, or I continue to ram into that warp point until this tower is a heap of bricks." Taking in a deep breath, the diminutive dual swordsman puffed out his chest and steeled his nerve.

"Take your pick!"

Before Lloyd even had the chance to relax his tensed shoulders, a fierce, violent tremor shook through the tower and tossed him off his feet onto the cold surface of the tile floor mercilessly. The slender boy hit the ground hard like a bowling ball pitched on an ice rink and barely had time to right himself before another jolt of the earth sent him careening back towards the ground on his chest, successfully knocking the wind from his lungs.

"What-what's going on?" Lloyd gasped out, prying himself off the stone on his forearms, "What was that?" Scrambling to his feet as well as he could, the shrunken swordsman darted for the rail and clamored onto it for support, lest he be tossed around like seasonings in a mixing bowl again. After he quickly made sure that the part of the rail to which he clung was not the section that Zelos had inadvertently lost his lunch over, Lloyd turned his attention back to the warp point and swallowed hard.

"What are those things?" He asked no one in particular while a series of powdery blue light clusters bounced around the room, most gathering near the warp point and disappearing from view. Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the sudden disappearing act the light particles had performed, but confusion was replaced with sheer indignation when he realized what really had happened. The light particles hadn't disappeared. They had just _warped through_.

Lloyd was miffed.

"What, I can't go through, but the light balls are okay?" He demanded bitterly, his grip on the rail loosing its slack somewhat while he glared daggers of death at the warp point.

"You suck." Another forceful jounce of the earth struck the tower again with all the warning Sheena would give Zelos before she whacked him, about all of two seconds, so instead of continuing his rant over why it wasn't fair light could do as it pleased but he couldn't, the scowling first grader re-latched himself to the pillared railing and waited for it to stop.

However it didn't stop.

It got stronger.

The tremors rolled through the tower like ripples in an ocean tide and it took every last bit of willpower and strength to keep the short squirt attached to the banister. However, while everlasting willpower he had, everlasting strength he did not. One titanic shock of force ripped the railing from Lloyd's fragile grip and pitched him back into the stone tiling. He landed with an ungraceful flump on the floor knees first and bit back a groan as he wrenched himself up to some semblance of standing.

"What the hell?" He stared drunkenly, his hand on the wall. His palm rippled right along with the wall, and Lloyd raised a curious eyebrow. Carefully, he craned his neck right next to the wall and examined it, his eye about a half inch from the plaster.

That was before a huge hunk of wall came crashing down and missed his shoulder by millimeters.

Lloyd squalled language would have earned him a life time in the corner holding buckets had the Professor heard him. His wits barely with him, the slight swordsman dodged a second piece of spare tower that narrowly averted him by inches and sprinted across the light bridge that connected platforms as fast as his fatigued legs could carry him. Once across, he leaned against the far side of the wall and whimpered.

Lloyd didn't feel very good. His lungs were still burning because of the vile perfume from hell he'd been forced to breathe, his back was on fire from being thrown into the far side of the wall one too many times, his energy was draining away with every minute and for some weird reason, his left hand hurt. A lot. His eyes shifted downward to his exsphere, still happily sitting in its keycrest on his left hand. It didn't seem different, except it had a brighter sheen than he remembered and there was a horrible sensation of pinching needles in the back of his hand, sort of like if Noishe had decided to use his hand as a chew toy. Lloyd shook his head and rubbed his face. He was letting all of the pressure get to him. He was hallucinating from all that adrenaline. That had to be it.

Dodging concrete wasn't helping.

Feeling faint from the lack of oxygen, the lilliputian leader sank his palm into the side of the wall and clutched at his chest. His heart did backflips while dancing in his throat and it was all Lloyd could do to keep himself from collapsing. This much adrenaline on such short notice couldn't have been good on his system, most likely contributing to the hallucination and Martel knew what else.

'Where's the door?' Lloyd's mind raced back and forth as he searched for the doorway to the ramp. If he couldn't go up, he'd go down.

He searched for a moment, vigilant for any stray bits of building sent his way, and blinked when his hand felt the smooth curvature of the exit.

"Oh... there it is." He sighed in relief, patting the etched arch of the doorway. He'd been so disoriented, he hadn't noticed the door was right next to him. Grinning exhaustedly, Lloyd gathered what reserves of energy he had left and darted towards the door leading to the spiral ramp.

He was so close, just one more step and he'd be closer to getting out-

A force that seemed to rival the sword Yggdrasill owned tore through the wall like a bullet through tissue paper and crashed into Lloyd, knocking him off balance. The short six year old barely had time to look up before a second force burst through the crater in the tower, actually grazed his leg this time and slammed him into the tiles.

"Yaagh!" Lloyd fell to the ground hard and instantly made to scramble away, his instincts overriding his pain threshold. However, he couldn't. Something had wrapped itself around his leg and held on like there was no tomorrow. Lloyd gulped and tried pulling his leg away. If he didn't act fast, chances were pretty good there WOULDN'T be a tomorrow.

"Okay, don't panic, don't panic." Lloyd chanted while he ran a hand through his chestnut hair, his face sweating bullets. "Panicking will only make it worse."

Yeah, right, like it could get any worse.

His pulse a mile a minute, Lloyd flipped onto his back the best he could and quickly got to work easing his leg out from the tenacious grasp of the weird tendril thing. It didn't do any good. No matter whether he tugged at it fiercely or gently coaxed, it was no use. That 'whatever it was' had no intention of letting him go. He even tried sawing at it with his swords, but that didn't work either. He'd have had better luck using a frosting spatula on a flat iron steak.

"Come ON!" Lloyd shrieked, his instincts screaming at him. "Leggo, you psycho vine gone wrong-"

*_CRACK_*

A strange sound made the boy pause. A sound that... didn't sound quite right. Turning his eyes upward, the former teenager spotted a large fracture run up the wall from where the snake had burst and blanched. The crack trailed upwards to the ornate carved ceiling and broke off into three separate paths, each blazoning apart from the other.

'What do I do?' Lloyd frantically twisted his head from left to right in search of anything he could use to pry himself free, finding nothing in response. 'I need help, but I can't find anything to-'

_*CRACK CRACK*_

The first grade swordsman's pupils dilated. Lloyd's eyes shot back to the ceiling and all the color drained from his face. The cracks from before had gone around full circle and met each other in the middle in a spiraled fashion. However, the pattern wasn't what caught his attention.

The fact the pieces of plaster inside the design were slipping out of place were.

'... oh crap.'

"No, no, no, no, no!" Lloyd's mouth ran dry and he shook from all the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He'd tried everything he could think of and none of it had worked, so what was he supposed to do? He didn't have time to think too much, because time was something he did NOT have.

Lloyd thrashed and struggled, but the merciless vine wouldn't relinquish its hold on his slender calf. He was stuck, and right under about at least three hundred pounds of plaster fifty feet above his head that threatened to crush him when it gave way.

Exsphere or no exsphere, there was no way he was going to survive that hitting him. The force of it alone would surely be enough to kill him, and it didn't help he couldn't angle his body out of it's line of trajectory because of his captive limb.

It looked hopeless.

"No, I can't give up now!" Lloyd shook his head, sweat flying from his face, and desperately tugged at his leg again with all he could muster. "There has to be a way!"

Well, whatever that way was, it wasn't making itself known, that was for sure. As he struggled, the slipping wreckage squeaked and scraped from the ceiling, the impending plaster working out from its home in the dome.

"I need help!" Lloyd pleaded, practically hysterical as the plaster was close to breaking free and he was nowhere close to being so, "I need help! If anyone can hear me, please help me!"

"Guys, Colette, Genis, Kratos, anybody-" One final thunk and the plaster gave way, the large circular hunk of matter broke free and shot straight down through the air at it's captive target. All hope torn from him and scared out of his mind, Lloyd shielded his head with his arms, screwed his eyes shut and hunched his shoulders in a last ditch effort to protect himself.

"DAD!"

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd's eyes snapped open.

Someone had.. responded. Responded to his plea for help. More importantly, someone had called _his_ _name_. For a split second, the cynical Raine-esque section of Lloyd's brain convinced him his mind was playing tricks on him; a desperate ploy in an effort to comfort a wayfarer about to embark across the journey into the hereafter, one who was neither ready, nor willing.

However, when a flash of green light streaked across his corneas, even Lloyd's cynical side had to admit there was more to this than pure imagination. Suddenly struck with the intense blast of light, he reactively shut his eyes again and brought up his arm over his face for protection.

Even though his eyes were shut off from the world, the flash of concentrated energy had left spots floating in his vision, all of them green and startlingly bright. Frowning, Lloyd peeked an eyelid open and, after his vision sharpened to more than a green hued blur and another blur that looked sort of like a person, gaped when he saw the gargantuan heap of what used to be the ceiling hovering above his head, held off by what looked like a seaweed hued energy field.

He stared even more when he registered who had generated said energy field.

"Kr...Kratos?" Lloyd sat back with his weight on his palms, his leg still clutched by the snake-ish vine and gaped at his rescuer with disbelief. Kratos stood over Lloyd in a defensive stance, sword drawn and all his focus honed in on the _guardian_ technique he'd used to fend off the debris. The seraph glanced down at Lloyd, nodded curtly and returned his attention to the avalanche of rubble that threatened to crush them both.

'He... he came to get me.' The thin boy's shoulders sagged in surprise as he watched Kratos concentrate on the protective shield that stood between them and pancake hood. Kratos had come back for him. He must have figured out Lloyd was still in the tower and came back to rescue him. It would have probably been better for him Cruxis wise if he let Lloyd become part of the tower's remains, but he hadn't left him to his fate.

He'd come back.

A warm bubbly feeling spread through Lloyd's midsection, much like the relaxing touch of the sun on a spring day, and his shoulders wiggled back and forth in a subconscious happy dance. However, his satisfied sensation quickly overturned itself when he remembered what he'd inadvertently cried out just moments before his then assumed demise.

_Dad._ He'd called out for his father. Not Dirk, but his actual flesh and blood father. He wasn't sure why he'd done it, but he'd been so scared for his life, his instincts took completely over his actions and so he called for a man he didn't remember clearly, nor did he know was alive or not. Lloyd snorted. It wasn't like his father could've heard him, wherever he was. Hell, no one could've. What had he expected, his mystical father to swoop in and save him at the last minute from certain doom like in one of those adventure books Genis was always reading?

No, as much as he would have liked to think otherwise, Lloyd knew wishing hadn't had anything to do with it. He'd just been lucky Kratos got to him in time. Shaking his head, Lloyd focused on his still trapped limb and tugged at it with all his might. There was a chance that if he freed himself from his vine captor, his pride might be salvageable.

Still... while it was highly mortifying for someone who considered himself at least more than halfway to adulthood, in body at least, to cry out for his father in a moment of fear for his life...

... it just _felt_ right.

Well, regardless of what he felt before, all he felt now was embarrassed.

'I hope Kratos didn't hear that.' Lloyd sheepishly rubbed at his face with his blistered palm and peered up at his stoic savior.

Kratos thankfully hadn't seemed to notice Lloyd's chagrin and if he had, he was hiding it well. As the crumbled remains of what used to be the ceiling slid off the dome of protective green energy, the seraphim wasted no time in bringing up his sword that Lloyd could have sworn was on fire and slice through the bizarre binding that wrapped around the thin boy's leg. Kratos then grasped the flaccid limb, yanked it from his charge's calf and tossed it aside.

"Are you alright?" Kratos inquired, checking Lloyd's forehead and limbs for any sign of injury. Lloyd heaved a breathe of relief. He must not nearly be in as bad of shape as he felt, because Kratos had bothered to ask instead of rushing about with a flurry of _'first_ _aid'_s. The last time someone had done that, he'd almost been eaten by a chimaera. That hadn't been a good day.

Not that this one was particularly enjoyable either, but at least it was an improvement.

"I... I think so." Lloyd nodded, his cheeks still flushed as he inspected himself. In all honesty he wasn't sure he felt as good as he sounded, but he had all his appendages intact, so that was one step up from what he'd been expecting thirty seconds ago. Small victories, he supposed. Kratos regarded the boy briefly, narrowed his eyes and scooped him into his left arm, his right still clutching the hilt of his sword. Lloyd didn't have enough time to object, nor did he think to. Manly pride had to take a back seat to living.

Kratos quickly crossed the decaying building, Lloyd in tow, peered out the crater where the tendril had broken through and looked back to his thin passenger.

"Don't let go." The seraph instructed, during which his blade like wings materialized from nowhere, slicing the air with concise strokes.

"Don't worry. Not planning on it." Lloyd replied faintly, his cherrywood eyes fixated on the cerulean wings pulsing back and forth. The seraph glanced at Lloyd, eyebrow in its signature raised position, strengthened his grip on the boy, and broke into a dead sprint. He closed the space between the crater in the wall and, with a sudden burst of energy, leapt from the balcony into the air.

The pair fell several feet before the translucent appendages caught the wind and swept them upward back where they started, the wings beating steadily. Jolting his system, the sudden ascension jettisoned Lloyd from his wing induced trance, and he accidentally did the one thing no one should EVER do when airborne.

He looked down.

Lloyd had never been afraid of heights. Nor had he been afraid of falling from them.

It was the landing part that left him antsy.

Lloyd groaned weakly and closed his eyes. He could take jumping from cliffs or buildings no problem, in fact that was a hobby of his during his er... _younger_ days, but there was a big difference between jumping down a cliff and falling out of a tower. This day was getting worse by the minute. Sneaking a peek back at the green expanse of earth below, Lloyd's breath hitched and his fingers sank into the folds of Kratos' shirt as the seraphim flew towards a few specks that Lloyd guessed to be his friends and Yuan.

No, Kratos didn't need to worry about Lloyd letting go.

The trick was getting Lloyd TO let go once they hit the ground.

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" Zelos demanded as he paced back and forth, his arms crossed behind his back. Ever since the group of rag tag ruffians had set foot on the ground, it had been all Yuan could do to keep them from running back in after Lloyd. It hadn't taken much for them to realize that Lloyd had been trapped inside by the contract's spell and was all but helpless to the merciless tower that now held him imprisoned within its walls.

"I hope Lloyd's okay." Genis whimpered, disquiet painted all over his face while he wrung one of his overall straps in his petite fists. Noting her brother was worrying himself into a state of anemia, Raine reached out her hand from beneath her orange poncho and patted his arm.

"Don't worry Genis. Kratos is after him, he won't get far." The professor comforted gently, squeezing his shoulder for good measure. Sniffing a little, Genis looked up at his sister and smiled, her words having done the trick in assuaging his misgivings. Zelos, on the other hand, looked less than consolidated. Rather, he looked like he wanted to have a stroke right then and there.

"Y'know, it's really freaky when you say that, but what makes it worse is that it's almost making me feel a little better." The cherub of a chosen groaned uncomfortably, running a hand through his long red tresses in an attempt to calm his imagination before thoughts of Kratos' tracking abilities took it over. From where he stood, the only one who actually resembled that of an adult, Yuan, gazed over his shoulder at Zelos and snorted irritatedly, hints of sarcasm lacing his voiceless opinion. How he managed to do that was anyone's guess, but it got the point across nonetheless.

"What, you got a problem?" The seven year old swordsman demanded tersely, matching Yuan's annoyance and raising it with a good old-fashioned dose of petulance. Instead of snapping or sinking to the level of a second grader, Yuan sighed and brushed his cerulean bangs out of his eye.

"You're awfully tense." The turncoat angel commented loftily, his eyes shifting back towards the boy, then at the tower and then to the boy again. "You wouldn't be gaining a lingering attachment to your little friend, now would you?"

Zelos' nose wrinkled and he scowled at the half elf seraphim.

"Don't you pull that reverse psychology stuff on me, blue boy. That might work on Kratos, but I slept through that subject at the Academy and I know how it works." Zelos countered defensively while folding his bubblegum pink arms against his chest. "Besides, 'course I do. He's my bud. Just because you don't have any feelings for people doesn't make that my problem."

Before the ancient angelic being had the chance to retaliate with an equally smart remark, a sharp yank suddenly jerked his neck backward at an awkward angle and while it hadn't been very strong, Yuan could tell that his neck was going to seek retribution later with a vengeance. Gyrated neck aside, the renegade leader cast his eyes down to see Colette had grabbed hold of his cape and was tugging at it to get his attention. Raising an eyebrow at her sudden bid for attention, he bent down so he was close to eye level and took the folds of his cape that were buried in her hands, inadvertently taking her hands along with it.

"What is it?" Yuan asked while he gently pried her iron like grip from his cape and grumbled inwardly when he noticed tiny fingernail imprints had dug themselves into the velvet nap of his cape. Colette didn't answer right away, picked up the cape with one hand and sniffed, her eyes focused on the cloak's plush sheen.

"... Lloyd's gonna be okay, right?" The acute acolyte finally asked pitifully, taking the cape and wiping her eyes with it. "Kratos is gonna find him, right?"

Yuan groaned in his head. To be honest, he knew that Kratos would do his best and more to rescue his son, but there always was a chance he wouldn't make it in time and Lloyd would be crushed by the incoming rubbish, fall into a ravine or worse. It sounded heartless, but he had to factor in the possibility Lloyd wouldn't make it for the sake of logistics. However, now wasn't the time to hone in on such possibilities. Now was the time to comfort the little girl clinging to his cape.

"... He'll be fine. Lloyd is much too stubborn to let a collapsing building keep him from living." The angelic anarchist said as reassuringly as he could, though that wasn't exactly the poster phrase for calming down a five year old girl who looked to be on the verge of a major emotional meltdown. To be fair, he wasn't really used to reassuring people, his last grand attempt in doing so being when he said that flat chests were more aerodynamic. Still he was trying, so there had to be points at least for effort.

"You think so?" Colette asked through another sniff, her eyes still just as large and watery as before. Smiling slightly, Yuan let go of his cloak's edge, reached out and gently patted the top of her goldenrod hair.

"Yes. He's made of sterner stuff than that."

Not a second after Yuan spoke, a large chunk of pearly silver stone cracked in several pieces and crashed down to the ground with a sickening thud, a cloud of dust marking the air with it's impact. Zelos stared at the wreckage, raised an eyebrow and snorted.

"Tower doesn't look so hot though." He commented loftily, hooking a thumb back at the hunk of observation tower that had struck the earth. Yuan glared at him.

"Zelos, shut up."

While Zelos fumed at Yuan with language worthy of a sailor, Genis shook his head in worried exasperation and gazed up at the sky for any sign of Lloyd again. The sky didn't disappoint him a second time, because something or someone burst out of the tower with a cacophonous bang and headed towards the ragtag bunch, though Genis didn't have to guess who it was. Judging by the red blur that clung to the larger figure, the mission had been a success.

"Guys, look!" Genis exclaimed rapidly, waving his arm up and down as he pointed his skinny finger to the heavens. "It's Kratos and he found Lloyd!"

"How can you tell he's got Lloyd?" Zelos asked curiously, covering his eyes like binoculars as if that actually magnified his vision. Sheena snorted exasperatedly and shot Zelos a flat look.

"Look at the red blur, you idiot. No one wears a color like that on a regular basis except Lloyd." Zelos glanced back at the slight summoner and smirked.

"You do on your face whenever you get mad."

"Moron Chosen!" Sheena' face turned an uncannily similar shade to Lloyd's shirt, leapt into the air and pounded the side of Zelos' temple with a well put side kick.

"Ow!" Zelos clutched his pummeled head and yowled in exaggerated agony, but his cries fell on deaf ears. The others were much more interested with the wings protruding from Kratos' back while he flew through the air, as a couple of them had never seen them before, or at least not for an extended period of time.

"And here I thought his wings were just terrifying when he's fighting, but they're really intimidating even when he's flying." Genis whistled as he watched. "It's like blades of blue steel cutting the air in order to keep him aloft."

"Yeah, well, I guess they kinda do." Zelos agreed, having stopped his caterwauling after he realized he was just wasting his energy. "At least they're not pink."

Yuan raised an eyebrow, broke his gaze from the sky and stared pointedly at Zelos, a dark glare marring his features.

".. are you insinuating something?" He asked in a deadly whisper.

"Who, me?" The petite philanderer asked innocently, batting his eyelashes. "No, never, wouldn't dream of it."

"I want to touch them." Presea murmured, ignoring the impromptu interrogation Yuan had spawned to find out exactly what Zelos had meant when he'd said 'pink. "I wonder if they feel like paw pads."

"I concur." Regal nodded. Neither of them had truly seen wings other than Colette's, Presea briefly seeing them on Mt Fooji when she'd lost her soul, and Regal having joined afterwards. As a result, it did lead to a variety of questions on their exact composition and texture. Neither had asked Colette if they could feel her wings, out of sheer respect for the chosen's personal space. Colette most likely wouldn't have minded, it just didn't seem proper to invade privacy solely for curiosity's sake.

With a final flutter of the wind and wings, Kratos touched down on the marble dusted earth outside the dilapidated tower and systematically set Lloyd on the ground. Hands at his sides, Lloyd gingerly stood in place as he checked to see if he could keep his balance. After all, almost being flattened by a thick slab of building material while being held down by a snake was more than enough to send his nerves, equilibrium and pulse off the deep end. Not wasting any time, his friends rushed him like a pack of starving chickens and instantly started henpecking him for information and his health. Lloyd didn't respond strongly right away. He was still in shock he'd managed to escape the fate of a pita.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Genis asked as the Professor checked his vitals to make sure he hadn't suffered a stress induced stroke.

"I'm okay." Lloyd replied numbly, the feeling in his face starting to return. "Just a little traumatized, but I'll live... I think."

"Lloyd, you know the word 'traumatized'?" The professor sniffed and put her hand on her chest, deeply touched. "I'm so proud!" Next to her, Sheena looked at Raine disdainfully and sighed.

"Raine, I don't think now is a good time for-"

"Right, compliments can wait." Lloyd interrupted, having gotten back his resolve and completely missing the verbal slam towards him at the same time. "We need to figure out what those snakes were that attacked me."

"Lloyd, those weren't snakes." Kratos stated stonily. "They were branches."

Lloyd blinked. So did everyone else.

"What?"

The age old seraphim pinched the bridge of his nose momentarily and gestured into the distance.

"Take a good long look at what you all have unintentionally unleashed upon the world and figure it out."

Taking his advice, all nine turned their attention to where he pointed and one by one, turned a sickly shade of grey. Off in the distance loomed one of the most grotesque monstrosities that any of them had ever seen, or perhaps had ever roamed the world for that matter. What was supposed to have been the tree of everlasting life and mana had been replaced with a knotted, hulking mass of perversion that spanned as far as the eye could see. It's bulk was so gigantic in width and height, it even blocked the tower of salvation from view, though a sickening feeling in the pit of Lloyd's stomach gave him a powerful hunch the tower had become a nice refreshment for the now exponentially expanding tree. While the tree twirled its way towards the heavens, long tendrils of gnarled roots clawed at the air as the tree grew to daunting proportions, whipping and thrashing through the sky like it was rice paper. In short, that hadn't been what they'd all been expecting whatsoever.

"Holy Mother of Martel!" Zelos swore vehemently, taking a step back as he watched the ravaging incarnation of the tree. "Is that supposed to be the Giant Kharlan Tree?"

"Don't take Martel's name in vain!" Raine chastised tersely, smacking the broadside of his head with the flat of her palm, though her voice indicated she too was suffering from a strain in her internal panic center. "It's rude." Zelos didn't seem too chagrinned or remorseful at his lack of etiquette, but simply irked that he'd been hit in the head again.

"What is with you always getting the same soft spot?" He scowled petulantly, rubbing the point of impact.

"Since it's your head, there's a lot of space to aim at." Sheena commented offhandedly, eyes still locked on the swirling mass of death known as the Kharlan Tree. Snorting, Zelos folded his arms against his chest and pouted.

"... Bansheena."

"You want another hole in your swiss cheese head?"

"No, I'll be good!"

"Hey, you guys see that?" Lloyd pointed towards the center of the tree, his jaw agape. "There's something in there." Upon closer inspection of the tree's core, green stone like glass flickered light back and forth and gave the tree the appearance it had donned an expensive brooch. However, while the stone was striking, it wasn't nearly as striking as what was inside.

"Martel!" Yuan gasped, temporarily having forgotten about his normally aloof and demure persona for a raft of old memories that resurfaced.

"That's Martel?" Raine gaped at the ancient angel. Apparently that was enough to snap him back into the ballpark of his normal personality, because Yuan merely narrowed his eyes and nodded, though his gaze never did leave the tree.

"She looks really familiar..." Colette mused quietly as she peered out from behind Regal's arm. "...I don't know where but..."

"Why'd Martel show up in that weed gone wild?" Zelos asked incredulously while he twisted a tendril of scarlet around one finger. "I didn't think goddesses were the hidden gooey center of a killer plant."

"I figured this would happen." Kratos murmured bitterly, his arms crossed against his chest. Lloyd, who was standing right next to him at the time, briefly caught a glimpse of the seraphim swordmaster and a pang of guilt struck his tiny stomach. It could have been a lack of food, but it was too well timed to have been just that. Kratos had been right through it all and now they had a whole can of problems just because Lloyd was too stupid to listen to him when it really mattered. It was all his fault. The tree. The Tower of Mana AND the Tower of Salvation. All of it had been his doing.

And what made it worse was he knew it.

"...you mean what you tried to say before?" Lloyd asked quietly, though he knew all too well that was EXACTLY to what Kratos was alluding. The seraph glanced through the corner of his eye, nodded slightly and turned to the others.

"Yes." Kratos replied soberly. "The summon spirit pacts acted as a stabilizer that contained the Great Seed so that it did not germinate in a twisted form and thus turn rogue. Without that protection, it went out of control and attacked the world it was unleashed upon."

"That can't be!" Yuan refuted in disbelief. "The main purpose of the pacts was to contain the seed from either world and prevent it from sprouting."

"That was only partially it. While the two worlds were forced apart by Yggdrasill and thus should have been destroyed by the void, he prevented it by placing the Great Seed in the void, which in turn anchored both worlds together."

"I know that." The half elf rebel commander irritably retorted. "The last thing I need is a lecture from you."

"Yet you bypassed that important fact with your own plans of grandeur." Kratos countered. "You would have realized that as the two worlds are constantly pulling apart from one another and their balance was so delicate that even the slightest upset could send it reeling into oblivion had you been thinking properly."

"So the mana links served as a prison for the seed in the void between the two worlds? Is that it?" Yuan inquired, though from the glint in his eye he hadn't brushed off the insult towards his line of thought. Kratos looked at him dejectedly.

"... I just said that. And as the seed has been exposed to an abhorrent amount of mana, it's sprouted in a perverse incarnation and has consequently gone out of control. It even devoured Martel."

"How do you know all this?" Genis asked, one slender, silver eyebrow arched in confusion. Pausing for a moment, the auburn haired elder angel observed him briefly and exhaled.

"Unlike Yuan, I read the memos."

"It doesn't matter why it happened, what's gonna happen if we can't stop that thing? Standing around having a committee meeting isn't going to do squat!" Lloyd exclaimed, his cheeks a deep shade of cherry. All of the pressure had only made the conflicting emotions in his head strain tighter and tighter until he'd turned into an emotional pressure cooker. He couldn't take it, he had to say something. So he did and it did feel good, like a ten ton weight had been hoisted off his shoulders.

Of course that didn't mean he didn't regret it the minute it left his mouth.

"Chances are that if what he says is correct, Sylvarant will undoubtedly be devoured by that tree and if Sylvarant is destroyed, Tethe'alla is sure to follow as it's linked with the Holy Ground of Kharlan and the Otherworldly gate." Yuan explained factually, obviously not possessing the temperament for any tact.

"Then everyone will die." Presea concluded, saying what everyone else had come to as a conclusion, but hadn't had the heart to vocalize.

"Everyone except that tree and the angels on Derris Kharlan." Kratos clarified as he let his left hand trail back to the hilt of his polished sword. Zelos, who'd taken the liberty of keeping a keen eye on the older males, especially the one with the sword, raised an eyebrow and rested his arms against his torso.

"And when you say everyone, you mean you two are screwed too, right?" He half asked, half commented coolly at the pair of angels who were still physically considered as fully grown life forms. Both angelic adults looked to the other, shared an unspoken message and resignedly turned back to Zelos.

"If we don't get to the tower in time, then yes." Kratos stated, the affect in his tone so flat it could have been mistaken for a cobble stone. The former casanova didn't reply, but instead faintly smirked and fell back in line with the rest of his compatriots.

"Yuan, how do you plan on rectifying this?" Regal stepped forward and eyed the cerulean haired half elf with a great deal of scrutiny. If this was indeed the fault of Yuan's plan, then he should be held responsible with correcting his grievous error. The rebel seraphim closed his eyes, furrowed his brows and began to think. After a minute of soul searching, he opened his eyes and returned his gaze back to the nine expectant pairs of eyes staring at him.

"We can stop the flow of mana to the tree and prevent it from growing further." Yuan responded, already formulating a plan of attack as he spoke. "If anything, that may give us a sporting chance."

"That is a good start but it won't be enough to stop it." Kratos folded his arms against his chest. "It's already begun its rampage."

"Is that thing going nutsl in Tethe'alla too?" Sheena blanched, her puff frilled like a hyperactive sea anemone.

"Probably not, but I assume they are feeling some sort of side effects, like earthquakes. They won't see anything physical, as since the journey of regeneration reversed the mana flow, much like flipping over an hourglass, and awakened Sylvarant's summon spirits. By using the newly awakened spirits as a magnet of sorts, Sylvarant meant to take Tethe'alla's mana, but accidently received the tree instead."

"Then couldn't we neutralize it by blasting it with the mana from Tethe'alla's summon spirits?" Lloyd suggested with his hand raised aloft, the scarlet and dust ridden sleeve slipping down his arm. "I remember from class that the positive and negative forces of a magnet neutralize each other when matched, so wouldn't it work the same with mana?" Genis sighed exasperatedly at his former human counterpart and rolled his eyes.

"I dunno if that's the same thing, though." The half elf preschooler murmured, but no one paid him any mind as Lloyd's idea circulated through collective whispers. No one else had come up with anything, so there wasn't any point at dismissing plans just yet.

"I suppose it's worth a shot." Zelos shrugged. "We don't have anything else."

"Yeah, but even if we did try shooting the mana of the opposing summon spirits, how can we possibly go about pulling that off?" Sheena stuck a finger at the thrashing tree. "We can't get near it like it is now!"

Lloyd innards curdled. If they couldn't get within range to expose the tree to Tethe'alla's mana, all their work would be rendered useless no matter what they did. All the others seemed to possess the same feelings, and even Zelos looked like the wind had left his sails for once.

"The mana cannon!" The blue haired angelic rebel's head shot up like a whip and fixed intently at the tree. "If we use that, getting within the tree's proximity won't matter."

"That contraption Rodyle built?" Presea asked curiously.

"Actually, we were manipulating him into building that. The plan was to destroy the tower of salvation with it. Though I don't supposed I really have to worry about it any longer."

"So the plan is to fire the mana from Tethe'alla's summon spirits into the mana cannon at the giant tree and hope that is enough to destroy it." Kratos summarized and closed his eyes in contemplation. "I don't suppose we have any other options." Although he had agreed to it, the expression lingering on his face gave away he didn't particularly like what options he had. Lloyd could tell that much. Not much more than that, but that was enough. Gazing over the flora so his eyes locked on the deranged monstrosity supposedly dubbed a 'holy' tree, Kratos ran a hand through his hair and faced Yuan.

"Yuan, in exchange for my silence over your prior activities and associations, I want you and the renegades to stop firing mana at the tree immediately. Meanwhile, Lloyd and his friends will head for the mana cannon-"

"Sir!" Kratos' instructions abruptly cut off when a speeding roar from a rheaird shot overhead and a renegade vaulted over the side and saluted. Normally Lloyd would have been very impressed at the rebel's acrobatics, but he'd been shellshocked so much by the incident in the crumbling tower, the blasting sound from the rheiard's engine triggered something in his subconscious and caused him to cling to the first thing he could reach.

That 'thing' turned out to be Kratos' thigh.

Kratos stiffened like a petrified board when sharp little kid claws sank into his leg and let out a raspy gasp of agony, but no one paid it any mind. They were too busying listening to the breathless cadet.

"We just received reports that the Iselia ranch leader desian grand cardinal Forcystus has just executed our infiltration team!" The renegade spoke as quickly as he could, pressed for time. Yuan's eyes narrowed and Colette noticed.

"What's that mean?" She asked, her head at a tilt.

"That means the Iselia ranch is still in operation. My spies had been mobilized to switch over the mana flow, but they apparently were caught and killed by Forcystus somewhere inside." Yuan said curtly, his mind racing for another idea that would quickly repair the latest pothole in the road known as his plans.

"That's just peachy. We've got to go there right now and switch over the flow." Zelos sighed while he folded his arms back behind his head. "Nothing like impromptu missions to really get the circulation going."

Back where he stood, Kratos hadn't made a move ever since the renegade messenger arrived. If he'd been able to, he'd have dislodged Lloyd himself, but as that would mean he'd have to breathe, he resorted to tapping the former teen on the top of his spiky head. The brunette boy peered up at him and raised a chestnut eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Nails." The seraphim pointed to Lloyd's death grip on his leg without looking down, his face slightly ashen and his voice at a low tone, trying to remain as calm as possible. "Remove them."

The tiny six year old blinked at Kratos like he'd sprouted a third arm. 'Nails'? What was that supposed to mean? Taking a minute to let Kratos' message sink in, Lloyd looked where Kratos had pointed and blanched.

"Sorry!" He immediately released his hands and stumbled back, both horrified at what he had done and at the same time incredibly embarrassed that he'd reverted back to clinging to anyone for support like a little kid. He may have been one physically, but that was a serious blow to his teenage pride.

The sensation of white hot needles gone, Kratos took in a breath of relief and glanced back at the other children, Yuan and the commando. Lloyd's sudden outburst had garnered their attention to both spiky haired swordsmen and when Lloyd noticed their stares of amusement and exasperation, the brunette boy turned a shade of red that paled his shirt.

"It seems there is little alternative." Kratos stated coolly, flicking a speck of dust from his shoulder as if nothing had happened to have besmirched his countenance. "I shall go shut down the reactor."

"Are you suggesting we send you to do this on your own?" Regal inquired, one skeptical blue eyebrow raised. The others didn't add anything to Regal's objection, but from the looks on their faces, no one liked that idea very much. Even Yuan, who normally could have cared less about what others did, looked less than thrilled.

"I'll send some men along." The blue haired half elf suggested quickly.

"Preparations for the mana cannon and the reactor shut downs are too vital. There's too much we need the renegades to do." Kratos brushed him off flatly, not in the mood for appeasing anyone. "You don't have enough troops for everything."

"I'll go too." Lloyd launched his arm into the air like on one of the rare occasions in class when he knew the answer and, just like those times, didn't wait to be called on to speak. Everyone reeled back and stared at him.

"What about the mana cannon?" Sheena blustered. "It's kinda important, y'know."

"You head to the mana cannon with the renegades. While you're doing that, we'll infiltrate the iselia ranch with Kratos and give you the okay when it's ready." Lloyd explained. "You'll be able to trust the signal if we're the ones who send it."

"That's true but..."

"Is it about Chocolat?" The stoic seraphim asked offhandedly, sounding slightly amused. Lloyd opened his mouth to reply, but the memory of Chocolat burst out of whatever hole he'd stuffed it into in his mind and suddenly he was at a loss on what to say.

"That's right, she's at the Iselia ranch!" Colette clapped her hands together twice and beamed at Lloyd. "Lloyd, you remembered!"

In all actuality, Lloyd had completely forgotten about his promise to Chocolat, because being betrayed, attacked and thrust into a new world with a whole new raft of problems had kinda gotten in the way. Still, admitting he'd forgotten didn't seem like too good an idea, so Lloyd instead nodded nonchalantly and rubbed the back of his head, hoping that would be enough to satisfy the limelight.

Thankfully everyone bought it, so he was saved for the time being.

"Fine. We'll leave it to you all then." Yuan readjusted his cape, picked up Sheena under one arm like a sack of potatoes and climbed onto the rheiard the messenger renegade piloted. "Don't let us down."

The rheiard sprung to life with a hiss and took off into the air towards the sea where the mana cannon laid in wait. Lloyd watched it go until it was a speck in the distance and swiveled around to the remaining seven.

"Let's get going!" He proclaimed and marched in the direction of the Iselia ranch. The others didn't respond immediately, but after a few disparaging glances shared, the rest followed after their compact commander.

"Hey, question, how are we gonna get there?" Zelos demanded, flouncing after Lloyd with the tails of his coat flapping in the wind. "We don't have enough rheiards for everyone, Yuan doesn't have enough time to get us more and we can't exactly walk there."

The lilliputian leader ceased his righteous stride and got that same look he had when Chocolat had been brought into the discussion. That was a good point, they couldn't do any good for the world if they couldn't move quickly and they couldn't move very fast if they didn't have transportation for everyone at the same time-

Lloyd paused. Pivoting on his heel, Lloyd faced Zelos and grinned, a glint in his cherrywood eye.

"I have an idea."

* * *

"That is the last time I am EVER traveling by shed." Zelos grunted as he emerged from the makeshift kid carrier, his hair every which way.

"Quit complaining. We got here in one piece, didn't we?" Genis retorted after him, looking just as sour. It had been quite a bumpy ride for the seven squirts who'd chosen to go after the reactor, though for what it was worth, that was more due to Zelos' flailing around and the lack of space in which he did it than the actual traveling experience.

"Says you." The older of the two flipped a lock of scarlet hair over his shoulder and scowled. "I can't feel my feet."

"That's because you sat on them the entire time."

"That's only because you made me sit. It's your fault." Zelos replied loftily. Genis' hair bristled.

"No one said you had to sit on your feet, you moron!"

"It's still your fault."

"Ah, together again." Raine nostalgically and yet extremely sarcastically sighed as she too emerged from the shed kid crate. Regal nodded sardonically, yet didn't reply. It had taken all of two minutes of alone time for the dynamic of their ragtag band of mismatched members to reinstate itself, and while they may not have looked the same, inside they were still themselves.

Well, mostly.

Lloyd, who usually at this point in the conversation or more appropriately named 'battle of mouths', would have derailed the verbal bludgeoning with some words of idealistic determination, was strangely absent from his role. In fact, he had abandoned the heckling duel all together and wandered over to where the auburn haired seraphim stood at the base of the beaten old path leading up to the ranch.

He had wanted to wait until he was absolutely positive his friends were out of earshot, just in case one or more of them were eavesdropping, but this seemed like the best opportunity he was going to get given the circumstances. Swallowing hard, Lloyd trotted cautiously towards Kratos, only to pick up his stride when he saw Kratos begin ascending the path at a brisk pace.

"Hey, Kratos?" The six year old swordsman called as more of a warning that he was coming than a question. The last time he'd sneaked up behind Kratos, he'd gotten a sword to the throat, so the prospect of a surprise conversation didn't sit with him all that well. The seraph turned his head ever so slightly to let Lloyd know he was listening and returned his attention to the shadows of the looming sun as it made its way to the noon mark. Lloyd groaned. If he was going to capitulate his pride, the least Kratos could do was look at him while he was doing it.

"Back there, at the tower...I... I wanted to say I'm... sorry I didn't listen to you." Lloyd finally burst out, tripping on his tongue the whole way. "If I had, this wouldn't have happened and-"

"That may be true, but regardless of what your actions would have been, this would have come to pass anyway. It was fate." Kratos cut him off absently. A tad shocked Kratos had accepted his apology, as much as he accepted anything, so seamlessly, the boy momentarily lost his pace and sped up so they were side by side again.

"Fate?" Lloyd looked up at Kratos, not really sure what the older man had meant.

"Everything is destined to have a fate." The seraph resumed watching the road in front of him with disinterest. "No matter what it may be, once it has begun, fate has already been decided."

"I don't think I can agree with that." Lloyd folded his arms against his chest in disagreement. "If people have the will to begin something, then shouldn't they have the will to finish it the way they want as long as they try their hardest?"

"Naive people would think that, but I suppose you're entitled to your opinion."

"I'm not naive." The slim swordsman rebuffed. "If people want to change something, then we have the power as people to change whatever it is that we don't like." Kratos let out something akin to either a scoff or a sigh.

"Fate chooses for us what our actions dictate. In the end, people are... powerless." He replied heavily, the ranch looming closer by the moment.

"Oh really?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow skeptically and tapped his right index finger impatiently across his folded left bicep. "Then if you're so sure about that, why are helping us try to stop the tree from growing? Wouldn't it make more sense for you to give up and accept fate than try to change what's happening to the world right now?"

As if a switch had been pressed, the older swordsman stopped on a dime as soon as Lloyd's challenging rhetoric registered. Lloyd briefly wondered if he'd accidentally broken him, but Kratos was too hardened to let something like an honest point fry his internal circuitry. Plus, the brunette boy did notice they'd finally arrived at the Iselia human ranch, so that might have had something to do with Kratos' abrupt stop. Still, the seraph didn't take any interest in the ranch, but instead turned back to look at Lloyd.

"...you've grown up quite a bit." Kratos murmured softly. Lloyd regarded the older man for a moment, not quite sure what to make of what he'd said. Physically he'd done the opposite and shrunk down to a shrimpy incarnation of himself, but from the tone and emphasis Kratos used, maybe it was more of a mental, maturity thing he'd meant or-

A large pink sleeve draped itself over his eyes, obscuring Lloyd's train of logic for the time being, and the owner of said trench coat reviewed the gates of the human ranch and wilted.

"Wonderful, a huge gate topped with sharp, pointy wire. Joy." Zelos moaned, his eyes fixed on the barbed coils of wire lining the railing of the ranch. "Now what, fearless leader?" Grunting exasperatedly at the older boy, Lloyd shook off the elbow that had dug a hole into his crown and furrowed his brow.

"Hm... I could probably jump down from that ledge." He suggested offhandedly. "It worked before, I don't see why it wouldn't now."

"'Before'? You made a habit of this?" Zelos' nose wrinkled in incredulous disdain that Lloyd would actually go into a virtual death trap swarming with desians sheerly for kicks.

"That is not necessary." Kratos interjected. "I can simply fly over the gate." Without any chance for the others to rebuff his decision, the seraphim summoned forth the cerulean wings that very much resembled the same hue as Yuan's hair, and leapt into the air.

"Man, no matter how many times I see that, I don't think I'll ever get used to it." Lloyd muttered as Kratos flew over the fortified barrier, disappearing from sight.

"What, the wing thing?"

Lloyd's shoulders slumped. Zelos wasn't supposed to have heard that.

"Yeah." Lloyd nodded. There was no point in denying it now. Zelos would call his bluff for sure and chances were good he'd do it loudly. "When I met him, I thought Kratos was just a tough mercenary, stiff as and possessing all the humor of a board. However, after all that I've learned throughout the journey we're on and all that I've seen, I've learned just how wrong I was."

"How so?" The chosen cherubim raised one scarlet eyebrow.

"Kratos was actually an angel in disguise, one of the four seraphim no less, stiff as and possessing all the humor of a board."

"Oh yeah, that's really freaking different." Zelos rolled his eyes and flopped his arm back on Lloyd's head. "So I gotta know. Why were you so surprised?"

"The man who taught me how to fight magically sprouted wings and vaporized people with beams of light." Lloyd replied flatly. "What, like you wouldn't have been?"

"Nah, not really." The slick second grader shook his head, "I'd have kept an eye on him from the start. The guy's too smooth. He's got an answer for everything, every loophole plugged, every angle covered. It's stupid to not be suspicious."

"Hey-"

"I don't mean you personally, Bud. You're a trusting guy. Just a bit too trusting is all. You're a good guy, but just because you are doesn't mean everyone else is."

"Dwarven Vow #18, It's better to be deceived than to deceive." Lloyd folded his arms indignantly. "Everyone deserves to be trusted."

"I know, I know. You just trust way too much." Zelos waved him off and took in the scenery. "Hey, was it just me, or did the old man seem crankier than usual today?"

"Probably had something to do with the 'world under attack by the tree' thing."

"Maybe. Or maybe all that bad humor comes from old age. We should ask someone who'd know about geriatrics and getting old and wrinkly." Craning his neck out, Zelos spotted Regal in the back of their assorted bunch and cupped his hand over the side of his mouth. "Hey Pops-"

"DON'T START." Regal shot him a look that would have withered a harpy and glowered more than usual. Zelos blinked twice, swiveled back to Lloyd and gestured with his head.

"Case in point." Zelos hooked a thumb at Regal. "Told you it was old age that made people cranky."

"He has a point Regal." Presea added, her tone emotionally flat. Regal looked less than impressed.

"Hmph." He grumped, obviously not in the best of moods. His sudden shift in mood, however, did not go unnoticed and, within two seconds, he found himself under the intense scrutiny of the professor.

"No, I don't that's the case right now." Raine observed while Regal stood stock still, knowing one false step could lead to his inevitable downfall should he interrupt her moment of insanity. "I believe that would be the onset of pre- teenage hormonal shifts."

Regal blinked.

"... pardon?"

"Your body most likely is beginning to undergo the introduction of its pubescent stage." The professor repeated. "Though, you're young enough I don't think you have to worry about acne or your voice cracking just yet."

A cool reticence filled the air as the message slowly sank in. They all exchanged a few choice glances, and it remained silent until someone's self control reached its breaking point, let out a giggle and fell to the ground in a heap, laughing all the way.

"You're.. you're gonna go through puberty twice!" The salmon clad chosen cackled uncontrollably, his arms clutching his sides. Regal glowered at him.

"You'd like to make it so you go through it never?"

"Whaddyou mean by that?" Zelos squawked indignantly, but a salient, icy glare from the professor hushed them both. Apparently since her transformation, she had not lost the ability to freeze students from ten yards away. Sighing, Lloyd rolled his eyes at all of them and turned back to where the seraphim had vanished.

"I dunno, Kratos doesn't seem all that old to me." The chestnut haired youth mused disbelievingly. How old could Kratos really be? He only looked to be in his late twenties, thirty at the most. Still, Kratos had once told him during one of their training sessions never to trust appearances. However, Lloyd got the feeling he hadn't meant play 'guess his age' when he'd said that.

"Says the teenager in the first grader's body." The silver haired half elf countered playfully. Flicking his eyes to Genis, Lloyd laughed lightheartedly and gently rapped his friend on the top of his head.

"Watch it, Genis." He joked back. The preschool prodigy laughed, the imminent doom facing the world momentarily forgotten, and observed the gate that loomed in the distance.

"Kratos sure is taking a long time." Genis commented, rubbing his nose with the flat of his palm.

"Maybe he got lost." Zelos responded snidely. "I hear sense of direction's one of the first things to go when people get old-"

"Who's getting old?"

Zelos' sentence died in his throat. Wheeling around, the remaining seven noted Kratos had in fact returned, he'd just been rather quiet about it. And, judging from the expression adorned on his face, he was contemplating murder and a very messy one at that.

"You're back, so it's safe to assume that the gate to the ranch is no longer operational?" Raine strode forward in an attempt to diffuse the situation from escalating into a free-for-all.

"I disarmed the lock, but was temporarily deterred by several platoons of desians. I dealt with them accordingly, which resulted in a less than timely return." Kratos reported candidly and dealt Zelos an irritated glare. "Contrary to popular belief, I have yet to go senile."

"And by 'dealt with them accordingly', you sliced and diced them like julian potatoes, right?" Zelos retorted, mostly unfazed by Kratos' penetrating stare. There was a little of him that was fazed, but not nearly so much the others could see, hopefully.

"Don't be vulgar." Kratos shook his head disapprovingly at the sorry excuse for a chosen and strode towards the main entrance, the doors wide open now wide as if inviting them in. "The area to the inner area was blocked by the desians. I merely cleared the path so the main building could be accessed."

"And that's different from what I just said how?" Zelos tilted his head to the side in a petulant fashion as they followed, his hands clasped behind his head.

"Your phrasing was tactless and crude, while the situation in truth was-"

"-Like mowing a lawn, but with bodies." Presea's dull, dulcet voice tore through the wind like a hammer would through crepe paper. A thick uncomfortable lull immediately permeated throughout the atmosphere, with all eyes locked on her and all eyebrows raised as no one, not even Kratos, knew exactly how to reply.

"... time is of the essence. Let us proceed." With no regard to the eerie stillness she'd created, the pigtailed axe wielder in a sailor suit trotted towards the inner section of the desian compound. The others said nothing, yet followed her into the heart of the ranch. Though, they all made sure to give her a wide berth of a meter and a half before doing so.

* * *

"It's typical he told us to stay out here." Lloyd frowned at the doorway leading into the inner compound of the desian ranch. They'd been in there a total of five minutes, and Kratos hadn't let him fight once. Once. He knew he'd used to complain about not being getting to do anything, but this was ridiculous. Not only that, Kratos had left them outside to rot along with the freshly filleted desians while he got to go inside and get some exercise. So typical.

"Eh, let him have his fun." Zelos yawned from a box he'd commandeered to be his settee'. "That way, it'll be them instead of us who're on the receiving end'." Lloyd wasn't assuaged. Kratos was deliberately making sure he wasn't allowed anywhere near the battle field and it was gnawing at his warrior's spirit. He'd mostly recovered from the incident at the tower, so why wasn't he in the fray? Perhaps he was over thinking things. Kratos hadn't let the others join in either, so maybe he was wary they'd be more of a hindrance than a help. It probably wasn't personal, not that it made him feel better.

"The foyer is now devoid of desians." Said seraph reported as he emerged from down the hall to stand amongst the barrage of brats. Lloyd gave him a quick scan up and down and while he was practically pristine, the blood dripping from the fiery blade of his drawn sword indicated he had more resistance than he let on.

"You coulda let us fight." Lloyd complained, letting his arms drop to his sides.

"Yeah." Zelos added loftily, leaping from his crate onto the steel plates that made up the floor. "Just 'cause we're short doesn't mean we can't deal some damage. Just ask Genis, he'll tell ya."

"Yeah, that's right and... Zelos, you're an ass!" Genis shot back heatedly, his face just as red as his temper. Zelos smirked.

"Looks like that trick works on more than Lloyd after all."

"What trick might that be?" Kratos eyed Zelos with a hefty amount of scrutiny, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Uh... nothing." Zelos quickly shuffled behind Lloyd for protection. "Soooo, er, how are we gonna go about doing this? The reactor has to get shut down one way or another, but this place is still crawling with people."

"The captives inside must be liberated immediately." Genis returned, inspecting the corridor ahead just in case a rogue desian zombie sprung up and tried attacking them. "Just in case someone gets a little explode button happy and this place ends up as a firework extravaganza." Raine took the opportunity to whack her brother upside the head, seeing as everyone knew to whom the boy had meant when he'd said 'someone'.

"We should split into two groups. One can go into the reactor and shut it down while the others help the people inside escape." The professor then suggested, her hand still warm from where it had collided with Genis' head. "That will save the most amount of time."

"That's fine. Chocolat hates me as it is." Lloyd shrugged, his head bowed. He hadn't liked saying it, but it was the truth. Even though he'd tried his hardest to save the nice old lady Genis had been sneaking food, he couldn't deny that in the end he'd been the one responsible for Marble's death. Just like his mother's, but at his own hand instead of his father. He couldn't expect Chocolat to forgive him as he had his father. There was no paternal love or understanding for her to assist overcoming her grief. All she saw was a cold blooded killer. It was best he avoid her, lest he make the situation worse.

"Then Lloyd will head to the reactor." The professor, along with everyone else, picked up on his sudden morose attitude and unanimously decided he be allowed that minor respite. It was unfair to send Lloyd back in there when they all knew or at least guessed the scorn he would face, though his intentions were pure from the start.

"Lloyd, pick someone to go with you." Colette urged with a smile.

"Me?" Lloyd blinked, not having expected he would be the one to choose. "Er, alright then." Furrowing his eyebrows against his cherrywood eyes, he rested his chin on the back of his fingers, sizing them all up and weighing who needed to go where in order for a complete success. He stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, only a few minutes in reality, until he shifted his eyes to the remaining grown male, walked over and tugged on one of the tails of his outfit for attention.

"Kratos, would you come to the reactor with me?" Lloyd requested, fixated on the one eye of Kratos that he could actually see.

"You wish me to accompany you?" Kratos regarded him with a skeptical air. Lloyd really wanted to groan exasperatedly at the angel's suspicious nature, but bit it down for the time being.

"Yeah, I could use your help." He stated matter of factly. The older man had been strangely distant... well, more than he usually was, since the tower incident, but the fact remained he was the only adult left amongst their infiltration squad and Lloyd needed all the manpower he could get. He didn't think Kratos would refuse, but still, something in the pit of his stomach told him he needed Kratos to be there. He couldn't explain why, but his instincts told him otherwise and he learned to never forgo his instincts for anything.

"... very well then." The seraphim swordsman acquiesced and stood near the hall leading into the intestines of the ranch.

"Alright, Lloyd. That's one. Pick two more." Genis called impatiently, his foot tapping against the tiles. Lloyd nodded and returned his chin to the back of his hand. Four minutes later, he still hadn't made his choice, and to say the others were getting impatient would have been sugar coating the situation.

"Dude, you're not asking a girl to go out with you. Pick somebody already while we're still alive." Zelos drawled sarcastically, one lock of his fiery hair twirled around his finger. Lloyd shot him a dirty look.

"Alright, alright, yeesh." The slender six year old grumbled and faced his compatriots, his decision made. "How about-"

A huge explosive blast of noise like a megaphone drowned out any choice Lloyd was about to announce and sent their hearts into a frenzy. Kratos had said he'd taken out anyone of consequence that had strayed into his path and Raine hadn't had a chance to get at the controls, so whatever had happened hadn't been of their doing. Something was wrong.

"What was that?" Zelos' head turned from side to side, expecting to see someone leap out of the shadows and take them all unawares.

"It came from that direction." Presea hoisted her axe over her shoulder and gestured towards a barren corridor, devoid of anything save a few spare doors and a myriad of security beams.

"Isn't that where all of the ranch prisoners are being kept?" Colette gasped, her eyes wide and horrified.

"There's fighting and panic, I can hear it!" Genis drew his kendama and thrust it off to the right corridor's final door at the far end. "We have to help them!"

"I concur, let us depart." Regal agreed and the invading gaggle charged off into the hall, weapons blazing.

"... okay, I'll just pick later then." Lloyd shrugged, oddly enough the last one to react, and drew both his swords from their holsters, the blades itching for a fight.

* * *

After Lloyd rejoined his friends and took his place at the front, the doors swung open after the professor keyed in the code she'd obtained from the main computer. Taking a deep breath, Lloyd bounded forward into the room, the rest hot on his heels. The host body prison room was fairly deserted. The red clad boy guessed when news of an infiltration had spread amongst the ranks of the prisoners at the ranch, they'd rushed the guards in a makeshift rebellion and stormed out the host body holding room into the main compound outside through the back door. That was the only explanation to why it was so quiet, discounting the smoking control panel which Lloyd guessed had been the source of the explosion. That, or perhaps all of the captives had been ushered to the extraction room. Lloyd unconsciously shuddered. He hoped that hadn't been the case.

Only a few remained behind, those who'd been injured in the chaos, or the unlucky who'd been caught by the three desian guards left. One of those unlucky people had been Chocolat. Most likely, she'd been within the reach of the flustered guard and that was enough for guilty via bad location and timing.

"Let go of me!" Chocolat shrieked while thrashing backwards towards the wall in a futile attempt to break the desian's iron hold on her wrist.

"You're the one who staged this little coup', and that kind of behavior gets you a one way ticket to the extraction conveyor belt!" The desian cursed back at her.

"Chocolat!" Colette shouted to the older female over the din between captive and captor. Chocolat seemed to have recognized the voice calling to her, or at least, the voice inflection, now that the chosen's voice was much higher than it used to be, for a flicker of hope graced her face.

"Chosen o-" Chocolat shouted back, but trailed off the instant she saw the party of rescuers. Both she and the desian holding her hostage went laconic, staring bewilderedly at the group who looked more suited for a field trip than a rescue mission. Lloyd grimaced. It was bad enough that despite his efforts, he'd crossed paths with Chocolat, but it didn't make the situation any better while she stared at them like they'd sprouted tails.

"What are you inferior brats doing in here?" The desian roughly pushed Chocolat away and tightened his grip on his whip. "Did the brats from the experiment lab go AWOL?"

"Getting ready to kick your ass, that's what!" Lloyd pointed the tip of his left sword at the heart of the desian and glared venomously. "Now let the prisoners go and no one gets maimed!" The desian, along with the other two who joined his flanks, guffawed at the thin boy's fierce demand, only serving to fuel Lloyd's temper to a whole new level.

"That's a good one, boy." The desian to the right of the first chortled. "You and what army?"

"This one!" A blur of silver rolled out from behind Lloyd, swung his kendama around in an arc and pointed it straight at the three grunts. "Thunder Blade!"

The amusement at the expense of the young intruders snuffed itself out the instant the gigantic violet blade of pure electricity surged through the air and penetrated the ground. It electrocuted the three lackeys until their lifeless corpses crashed onto the floor, the bodies charred husks of what once was. Sniffing disgustedly at the mess, Genis tucked his kendama away in the pocket of his overalls, muttered something about 'judging others based on size' and rejoined the ranks of his friends as quickly as he'd left.

"A well executed spell, Genis." Presea complimented, placing a hand on his shoulder and doing her interpretation of a smile. Genis blushed furiously and fiddled with his thumbs.

"Th-thank you, P-presea." The silver headed sorcerer stammered. "It-it did the trick well enough, but I'm lucky it w-worked at all. B-because I'm shorter than n-normal, the spell didn't get enough a-altitude for optimal d-damage." Presea observed her younger companion briefly.

"I see." She said flatly and approached Genis. "I shall rectify the solution." The boy beside her raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? How are you going to do that?" Genis asked, not entirely sure what she was going to do and his mind raced as he tried to figure it out.

However, nothing prepared him for her to lift under his arms and him into the air.

"Whoa! W-what are you doing?" The now airborne Genis inquired, though his voice was much higher than he ever would have liked.

"If you sit on my shoulders while you cast during the battle, that should make up for the lost height." The taciturn lumberjack explained, placing him squarely on her shoulders. "Grasp onto my pigtails to steady yourself should you lose balance." It took a minute for Genis to get used to his new altitude, but for all purposes, it wasn't half bad being back to where he started in height. The fact he was on Presea's shoulders was a serious bonus.

"Is it advantageous?" Presea inquired as she surveyed the room for more potential adversaries.

"... y-yeah." Genis gingerly held onto the left pigtail and craned his neck over Presea's cranium for a better view, careful not to knock off her white beret. Zelos, who nonchalantly glanced over at the awkward pair/ totem pole, smirked and chuckled under his breath.

"In more ways than one." The philanderous chosen caught Genis' eye and winked. Genis glowed bright pink.

"Sh-shut up, Zelos."

"Chocolat, are you alright?" Colette dodged around the crispy critter formerly known as a desian and clasped Chocolat's hand when she finally came into range. "What happened here?"

"I-I'm fine." Chocolat picked herself up off the ground where she'd fallen and dusted herself off. "When the people here heard about the infiltration, they ran for it. But... but what happened to you all? Why are you-"

"There's little time to explain. We need to evacuate the people left immediately." Raine briskly gestured to the door with a flick of her wrist. "We can explain on the way." Chocolat, still wary about what was going on and not sure why she'd been rescued by pseudo toddlers, looked at each of them respectively, and Lloyd could feel her gaze rest upon his face.

"I-"

"I know you don't want to be saved by me and I can't blame you." He abruptly interrupted her, matching her stare with his own. "So consider yourself saved by the Chosen." He knew it was rude of him to brazenly cut her off like that, but all that pregnant trepidation was too much for one boy to handle. Dragging out the whole ordeal would just be more uncomfortable than necessary.

"Are there any others left?" Lloyd asked another prisoner, a man with shaggy blue hair that desperately needed a trim, in an effort to shift the focus away from himself.

"I think the prisoners in the other rooms managed to escape." The man replied shakily, too perturbed to be bothered he was reporting to a first grader. "There are a couple injured people down below though. One of the desians shocked 'em something awful." The people he'd indicated sat in a huddle on the side of the wall, each looking worse for wear. The older of the two, a battered old lady, slumped against the wall while the other, a skinny boy who looked like he'd never had a decent meal in his life, knelt at her side and tapped at her other cheek trying to get her to stay conscious.

"What happened?" Raine asked as she slumped to one knee and conducted a diagnostics test on the barely coherent elderly woman.

"One of those desians got me by the arm." The boy responded, still watching the old lady, "She knocked into them in order to help me get away, but they hit her with some kind of weird shock and she's been slipping out of it ever since." He sniffed, wiped his nose on his filthy sleeve and turned his face so Lloyd got a better look at him. He was probably no more than seven. Not Zelos' version of seven, but actually seven.

"She's just an old lady and they shot her, just like that!" He exclaimed angrily, thick, globose tears streaking his dirt sodden cheeks. "It's not fair!"

"Life's not fair." A deep voice resonated from behind, making Lloyd's head swivel. Kratos stood stoically behind the shorter swordsman, his hand ever resting on the hilt of his sword, while sternly observing the sniveling prisoner. Lloyd's temper sparked. He figured Kratos didn't have the capacity to speak to HIM in anything other than a direct manner to the point of being uncouth, but this was a little kid. He wasn't a soldier or a swordsman who'd seen bloodshed on the battlefield. He was a scared little boy who'd just seen an old lady get electrocuted. Kratos could at least try to be gentler about it.

"B-but-" The boy looked back to the old lady with big, watery eyes.

"By cursing the fate of the woman who took the attack meant for you, you are ignoring the sacrifice she made." Kratos continued. "Not only that, you are denying her the chance she may have to survive if you continue to act in this fashion."

"But it shouldn't have happened!"

"But it did. And that what has already happened cannot be easily changed just with the mere wish to take it back."

Lloyd's temper faltered. Kratos didn't sound like he was berating the boy for his behavior anymore. No, it was more than that. This sounded really familiar, like he'd heard it before.

"_They shouldn't have been turned into exspheres! It shouldn't have happened."_

"_But it did, and that what has already happened cannot be easily changed just with the mere wish to take it back."_

Back at the bridge, Kratos had said the exact same thing to him when he'd protested the creation of exspheres. In arguing whether or not the act that caused the sacrifice was right, the sacrifice itself was completely tossed aside. It was the same. Lloyd felt sheepish. He'd gotten so worked up over Kratos lecturing a little kid, he'd bypassed the fact he'd just recently heard the same lecture himself, one that he eventually acknowledged as the superior point of view. Watching Kratos lecture from an outside perspective instead of the receiving end was much different than he'd thought. Judging from the inflections and the controlled way he spoke, Lloyd could tell he believed what he was saying. It sounded real, genuine from the core.

'I guess... Kratos really does think that every sacrifice is worth something.' Lloyd thought quietly, a smile creeping into his face. '... how did he ever get stuck working for someone like Yggdrasill?'

As he thought about it further, an idea, a slight niggling idea wriggled itself into his brain and refused to budge. If Kratos really did believe there was something to be honored in every sacrifice, maybe, just maybe Lloyd could make him see his point of view and convince Kratos to join their ranks again, this time for real. Kratos had much more in common with his goal of saving the world and everyone else too rather than Yggdrasill's of sacrificing anyone and everyone for an end result. That was probably why he was so furious in the human ranch with Kvar. Kvar, that bastard, hadn't cared whatsoever about the sacrifices made to produce his heinous little exspheres and that disregard had set off Kratos' sense of honor towards all those killed out of senselessness. Lloyd frowned. If that were the case, Kratos must've been dying to get away from Cruxis and everything it stood for. But why hadn't he? What did Yggdrasill have that Kratos could possibly want or need? Lloyd shrugged. Whatever it was, it sure had to be important, because Kratos didn't seem the type to genuflect toward anyone without having a good reason to do so.

But how could he get Kratos to switch? The older man said earlier he didn't hate or dislike Lloyd, so there wasn't any problem in that department, but for some reason, Lloyd didn't think hawking himself like a vendor selling oranges would get anywhere with the seraphim. Kratos was a man of action. He would only respect Lloyd's cause if Lloyd acted rather than talked and showed Kratos firsthand how his path was better than Yggdrasill's. If he could convince him, Kratos would be back on their side for keeps and, not only would Lloyd secretly be happier, it would deal a major blow to Cruxis in the process. Though, that brought up another problem, his friends. Normally a generally accepting group, Kratos had left on less than pristine terms and hard feelings had set in their hearts, Lloyd's included. However, everyone deserved a second chance to make amends and that was all there was to it. He guessed the others wouldn't probably be as receiving of it at first but if he explained his plan to change the seraph's loyalty, not even the professor would be able to deny him.

There was a chance. And Lloyd was going to give everything he had to make that chance bloom to fruition. He would do it. He HAD to do it.

"Is she... Is she gonna be okay?" The boy rubbed his sleeve over his face and got to his feet, his eyes trained on the wrinkled face of the old woman.

"She'll be fine if given proper treatment." The professor stood up and crossed her arms over her orange poncho. "But that means getting her out of here." She batted her hand over her shoulder twice at Regal, who'd been standing at her right flank. The compact convict nodded in understanding, hefted the old lady's arm over his shoulders and Raine took the other arm.

"If we are cautious, we can bypass the obstacles and help them to safety." The Professor directed, thrusting her free arm towards the door. "Let's go."

"Come on, Chocolat!" Colette snagged Chocolat's hand and yanked her after her towards the hall leading to the outside.

"R-right." Chocolat nodded, still recovering from the shock the supposed savior of the world had reverted back to the stature of a kindergartner. The host body boy wobbly trotted after them, not sure what was going to happen, but stuck close to Chocolat anyway for security.

"Cover us from the front!" Raine trilled over the ruckus to Presea and consequently Genis who perched on her shoulders like a baby monkey.

"Affirmative." Presea inclined her head in a semblance of a nod and thundered for the exit, axe aloft and ready to fight.

"You got it!" Genis saluted from his seat on Presea's shoulders and held his kendama high in the air, charging up his mana for the next incantation.

The clanging twang of an axe smashing into metal bolted Lloyd out of his plotting stupor just in time to see the last of his friends race out the door. He'd been so wrapped up in formulating a plan to win Kratos over, he'd missed his more pressing job, picking two more people for the journey to the reactor.

"Hey guys, what about the infiltration team-" He bellowed after them, but the door slammed shut on its hinges, leaving him utterly alone.

"And they're gone." Lloyd hand drooped. Great. Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't very well take on Forcystus himself on a good day, never mind one when he was a fraction of his original size.

"Most likely they became so caught up in the rescue, the infiltration assignment was forgotten." A deep voice mused.

Okay, utterly alone, excluding Kratos. Well, at least there was that. He could start working at winning Kratos over. That was better one on one anyway. Nodding to the antiquated angel, Lloyd readjusted his scarf and made eye contact.

"How come you told that boy about sacrifices?" Lloyd asked, concentrating on Kratos' visible eye.

"He needed to know." The seraphim swordmaster responded casually, as if discussing the weather.

"Isn't he a little young to be lectured about stuff like that?"

"Being a child does not automatically grant a license to be an ignorant fool. Besides, revelation is not based on age, Lloyd." Kratos replied stiffly. "It is based upon the situation and what is called for in order to overcome that trial. Sometimes these lessons must be learned regardless of age."

"Sometimes?"

"Yes." Kratos confirmed and turned away from Lloyd so he faced the door leading out. "Other times... certain things are better off not being known."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow, but didn't push it. What was Kratos getting at? Something was up. And whatever it was, Lloyd didn't like it. Still, he had work to do, so theorizing about pointless cryptic messages could wait for another day.

"Looks like everyone's already on their way out." Another voice sighed loftily from the corner. Lloyd turned in his tracks to come nose to nose with Zelos, who apparently had been hiding out from the stampede. The chosen, unruffled by the close proximity between himself and his 'bud', patted Lloyd on the cheek and stretched.

"Guess I'll just be joining them now, so take care and good luck with the reactor-" He pivoted on his heel so he could leave and join the others on the surface outside, but a hand reached out, snagged the back of his coat collar and hoisted him into the air about three feet.

"Oh no you don't." Kratos growled, eyes narrowed." You're coming too."

"What? Why?" Zelos protested heatedly while in midair, "I don't need to go! You're enough to take down anyone you see by glaring at them and withering them away into a big pile of dust! You don't need me!"

"Assistance, however minimal, is always better than none and another sword could be of use." The elder of the two returned, "And I'm keeping an eye on you."

"What for?"

"You're suspicious."

"I'm seven!"

"That only makes you more so."

"But I don't wanna go- Hey, put me down!" The acute acolyte shrieked in raw indignation when Kratos tucked him under one arm like a sack of flour.

"Lloyd, let us depart. The reactor awaits." The ancient swordsman gestured down the corridor to the reactor and left, completely ignoring the tirade of insults hurled his way, mostly about the legitimacy of his birth, some spare comments about his mother and the state of his general appearance.

"Lloyd, he's gonna kill me if you don't do something!" Zelos squawked like a pigeon run through a shirt press. "I'm too pretty to die!"

Lloyd fought the urge to smack himself in the head. How the hell was he supposed to earn Kratos' cooperation to side with their cause if Zelos was blocking every point he tried to score?

'Great. Kratos and Zelos together... at the same freaking time.' The scrawny six year old readjusted his swords and trudged after the melodious sounds of Zelos hollering at the top of his lungs. 'This is gonna go-'

"Save me already before I get as curmudgeon-y as he is- OW! What the hell was that for?"

"Making an obscene amount of noise and thus alerting adversaries, what do you think?"

"I think you're a dick."

"... how eloquent."

'... badly.'

* * *

"What the hell, that hurt!" Zelos squawked, clutching his nose from where it had rammed into the door frame. "You distracted me!"

"That was of your own doing." Kratos responded frostily over his shoulder. "You ran into it after you ignored my warning to stop."

"A likely story!" The irate chosen countered fiercely, ducking under an alcove to avoid the gaze of a spare desian which turned out to be a maintenance machine. "You're trying to maim me so you won't wilt in the sheer brilliance of my beautiful self." Raising an eyebrow at Zelos, Kratos rolled his eyes and strode past, not dignifying the chosen's latest accusation with a response.

A ways away, Lloyd's forehead arched with creased lines of aggravation. Ever since they had started towards the reactor, all the conversation had been along the lines of a one sided argument, and he was pretty sure Kratos was now highly regretting his decision to bring Zelos along as back up. The glint of contemplative murder in his eye gave away that much.

'Zelos hasn't let up ever since Kratos almost dumped him on his head two floors back.' Lloyd thought grimly, 'And it's not gonna be long before Zelos stabs Kratos when he isn't looking, or Kratos loses it and kills Zelos to get some peace.' Which one he didn't know, but if this continued at this rate, someone was gonna end up pushing up daisies. Zelos had an uncanny ability to lead himself into trouble mouth first and Kratos' self control, while it seemed unending at times, couldn't last forever.

'I'd better do something before they forget why we're here and turn on each other.' Lloyd ran a hand through his sweat laced hair and broke the distance between the other combatants.

"So, where is this thing anyway?" He cordially asked Kratos, praying it was enough to deter any plans for chosen assassination attempts in the future. Kratos, taking a brief moment to glance down at the whelp at his side, let out a shallow breath and looked back to the twisted hallway.

"The reactor should be down inside the chamber center most near the bottom floor-"

"-And all this time I thought it was gonna be in the ladie's bathroom-OW!" Zelos clutched the side of his head where the seraph had discreetly elbowed him and swore vociferously under his breath.

"-if the floor plan of this ranch has not been altered from its original design." Kratos finished smoothly as if nothing had happened.

"How far in is that?" Lloyd pressed, one, to distract from the scene Zelos was putting on and two, because he truly did want to know.

"Probably about another floor or so and then we should be able to access the reactor chamber."

"That is if the door isn't, oh I don't know, LOCKED." Zelos added testily, still nursing the spot on his cranium that had been bludgeoned via one well aimed elbow. The seraph cast a glance at the wounded chosen, rolled his eyes again and continued down the path, Lloyd right at his heels.

"You don't look too concerned about the possibility of the door being locked." Lloyd offered curiously. If the door was locked, that would prove a problem for them to shut down the reactor and they would have to find other means of getting in, none of which sounded appealing. They were pressed for time as it was.

"Such things are only powerful when intact." Kratos replied calmly. "When separate, they are meaningless."

Lloyd's nose wrinkled.

"What, are you planning on busting the door down lock first?"

"If it's necessary." Not elaborating on the details, the auburn haired angel paused at a forked alcove, looked left, then right, and after a moment of contemplation, turned right. Lloyd let himself fall behind for a step or three, then turned to Zelos and grimaced.

"... the bad part is I think he's serious." Lloyd whispered warily, speeding up his pace to gain on the older man.

"He's always serious." Zelos responded, the pair of them finally catching up with Kratos' swift strides. "Him not being serious is like me not being gorgeous, Raine not freaking out at a broken piece of pottery or you having a clue- OW!" Zelos slapped his palm over a brand new spot on his noggin that had been jabbed by an elbow and scowled fiercely at Kratos, who for all purposes looked relatively innocent.

"Stop doing that!" He roared, palm still covering his latest war wound.

"Maybe he would if you didn't provoke him." Lloyd tugged on Zelos coat sleeve. "Just a thought."

Zelos shot Lloyd a dirty look.

"What is this, 'pick on the Zelos' day? Bud, you're supposed to be on my side!" The compact chosen foisted a finger at Kratos. "He keeps this up and I'll end up as dumb as- OW! Hey, I didn't even finish that time!"

"The message was obvious." Kratos returned flatly, his attention focused on the warp point at the end of the winding corridor. Lloyd raised an eyebrow. What did he mean, 'the message was obvious'? All Zelos said was he was gonna end up as dumb as...

... hey, wait a minute.

"Hey! I'm not stupid." Lloyd defended, a tad late, but better late than never. "I just don't pay attention in school. There's a difference between being dumb and being bored." Kratos and Zelos eyed him for a moment, glanced at each other, then Zelos bit back a laugh and Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose.

"... Lloyd, don't sound proud of that." The seraphim swordmaster berated tiredly, as if something had just depressed him to a new level. Once he finished keying in the code to activate the point, Kratos placed his left hand on the hilt of his sword and faced the two boys behind him.

"Get ready. Forcystus hasn't abandoned his post as Grand Cardinal just yet. He'll have something planned." He told them sharply, the grip on his sword tightening in anticipation.

"Right, we don't know what to expect." Lloyd touched both of his swords to make sure they were at his hips this time and fixed his eyes on the warp point leading into the main reactor.

"I'm expecting fire, pain and somebody shooting at me, but hey, what do I know?" Zelos sighed dramatically, drawing his own sword nonetheless. "Some people say that and call it traumatic. I say that and call it tuesday. What a life."

"Be melodramatic later." Kratos chastised exasperatedly and stepped into the warp point. Zelos didn't reply, but from the irked look in his eye, he was thinking something rude. He soon followed suit, leaving Lloyd glaring at the warp point. He'd had enough time with warp points to last him a lifetime, thank you very much, but he didn't have any choice. There was only one way to the reactor, and this was it. So, heaving in a breath, Lloyd flipped the tails of his scarf over his shoulder, stomped into the warp point and let himself be taken by the rush of mana.

As soon as his feet touched down on the surface of the reactor's main platform, Lloyd's grip on his swords tightened reflexively, his mouth pursed into a tight line. The other two males in the room were just as silent, scanning the room for any sign of movement. However, two steps into the room, they found who they were looking for.

"That's as far as you go." The turquoise headed, one-armed cyclops cyborg of a half elf stepped in between the reactor's main control panel and rested his one real hand against his hip.

"Forcystus." Lloyd growled through clenched teeth. How could he forget him? The last time they'd met, Forcystus had tricked Lloyd into murdering a defenseless old woman who'd been unfortunate enough to experience the mutating power of a crestless exsphere, only to have that same woman sacrifice herself to allow both Genis and him to escape. That day burned in his mind and memory for too long and Marble would be avenged, just like his mother had been with Kvar. Upon that he swore.

It wasn't outrightly certain if Forcystus had sensed the radiating anger pouring out of the brown haired boy, for instead of buckling under the raw rage and lust for retribution, he merely took in the sight before him, sniffed and smirked amusedly.

"Hm, a pair of school boys and their babysitter. This is certainly new." He commented loftily, "I was expecting someone would arrive, but this I'll admit hadn't crossed my mind. Though, I must say it's been quite a while since I last saw you, Lloyd Irving."

Lloyd did a double take. How did he know it was him? After the incident, no one else at first glance had been able to identify him, hell HE hadn't even been able to identify himself the first time he saw his reflection.

"Wha- How did you know-"

"I'd heard news of the physical changes you and your cohorts had undergone, but to see those rumors as actual fact... this is fortuitous indeed." The cunning grand cardinal smirked at the trio of swordsmen.

"Fortuitous?" Lloyd's cherrywood irises narrowed suspiciously.

"It means lucky, Lloyd." Zelos whispered into his ear.

"I know what it means!" Lloyd snapped hotly. "I just don't get why he'd say something like that."

"We're here to shut you and your operation down!" The short six year old scowled at Forcystus. "What's so fortu- fortuti- lucky about it?

The sole remaining ranch assigned grand cardinal chuckled mildly and shook his head.

"Hm, seems you aren't too quick on the uptake." Forcystus answered, his voice dripping with disdain. "Our orders have been redirected so anything else has been seconded to retrieving YOU. As of now, nothing else matters."

Lloyd's jaw dropped in exasperated disbelief. After all they'd been through, all that had happened, with the discovery the angels of cruxis and the desians were in cahoots, the world practically exploding, not to mention the shrink down to little kid status, the desians were still clawing for his mom's memento. The search for the stone had pretty much died down after Kvar bit it anyway. Why were they bringing this back up again? Lloyd caught a quick glimpse of the other two, but there wasn't much of a clue there either. Zelos just gaped at Forcystus like he was crazy and even Kratos sported a somewhat quizzical expression.

"Jeez, you guys are STILL after my exsphere?" Lloyd ran a hand through his hair and shot Forcystus a exacerbated glare. "Gimme a break. If anything, shouldn't you all be focusing on the gigantic tree that's trying to devour the world and everyone in it! You're in this world too!"

"I have no use for a world that discriminates against those of different blood. It's better to purge such a world of existence." Forcystus responded haughtily.

"Because you think in the end, you can escape to Derris Kharlan." Kratos finished for him while giving the one-eyed half elf a pitying look. "How pathetically naive."

"What?" Forcystus flared.

"You're nothing to Yggdrasill. Easily replaceable and expendable are required traits of a desian."

"How dare you!" Forcystus roared, his eye threatening to bulge out of his head. "We have Derris Kharlan! This world is of little consequence."

"So you're just going along for the ride, not caring about what happens to the world in the process?" Zelos countered incredulously. "The world goes, you go with it!"

Forcystus' eye fell to the redheaded chosen and he sneered.

"YOU of all people have no room to talk."

Lloyd wasn't sure what that meant, but Zelos' eyes widened and he backpedaled, his face ashen.

"The Great Seed is more precious to Yggdrasill than his own life." Kratos pressed on coldly, his arms folded against his chest. "If you continue to stand in our way, the Seed will perish and you will suffer the consequences."

"I have direct orders from Lord Yggdrasill himself. We are to leave the tree alone and focus all our efforts on other matters." Forcystus returned with a righteous smirk. "You know nothing of what you speak."

"Because Martel is fused with the great seed." Kratos pieced the bits of information together and his features darkened. "Are you saying that idiot would go this far just to keep her intact?"

"Perhaps, though I cannot see why it would be any of your concern, _human_. Lord Yggdrasill operates as he sees fit and I cannot hold anything but the highest esteem for his judgment. Those who object are not fit to live in his vision of a perfect world."

"Gah, I can't take any more of his villainous monologue!" Zelos exclaimed aggravatedly and Lloyd couldn't help but agree. Every second they wasted talking to an enemy they were eventually going to fight anyway was one second more the tree ran rampant on the earth and everyone in it. Kratos seemed to agree, for he drew his sword and waited for the battle to begin.

Having sensed the time for conversation had passed, Forcystus' mechanical prosthetic gun activated, the sides glowing a sickeningly bright blue and stared them down.

"You will not escape this time!" He bellowed and rushed towards the trio, arm aloft and charged with power. Not wasting a second, Lloyd quickly dove to the side, rolled on his shoulders and bounded onto his feet again. Swords drawn, he bolted at an angle and slashed at Forcystus' unprotected shoulder, as he was already within a power struggle between Kratos, who'd taken the full brunt of the opening attack and locked him in with his sword. The steel struck it's mark, causing the half elf to growl in pain and blast Lloyd's sword with his free hand, sending both the sword and the boy hurtling meters back. Zelos, who had managed to barrel to the side just before the half elf had bull rushed Kratos, caught Lloyd's fall with his side and both boys went sprawling.

"Hey, what the hell?" Zelos yelled, pushing Lloyd off and getting to his feet. "I'm on your side, remember?"

"I know, I know!" Lloyd shouted back, wiping some sweat from his cheek. This was going to prove to be difficult, even with Kratos help. Speaking of Kratos, the seraph still was engaged in a heated match of blows with Forcystus, though from the looks of things, Kratos was starting to take the upper hand. Frowning, Lloyd looked at Zelos and pulled him closer so they were nose to nose.

"Look, I'm going to the left, you go to the right." Lloyd hissed hurriedly under his breath. "We'll stand a better chance of winning if we surround him and strike."

"Yeah, I'm all for winning." The Chosen smirked, spitting on the tile and running a hand through his hair. Lloyd nodded in agreement and jerked his head roughly forwards. Both boys then darted to the side around Forcystus in a circle formation. Bounding down on to the ground, Lloyd jettisoned himself into the air and swiped at the half elf's back, while Zelos ducked down on one knee, slid across the floor and slashed at the grand cardinal's right calf. Zelos' attack unfortunately came within two centimeters too far and missed its mark, but Lloyd's attack aimed true. A large gash of armor, clothing, skin and flesh ripped onto the scene where Forcystus' back used to be, and Lloyd had to dart backwards in order to avoid a shower of blood, skin and muscle.

Howling in pain and rage, Forcystus forced Kratos back with his cannon arm, slamming it into the seraph's chest and pivoted on the little boy who'd ruptured his back. He turned the cannon squarely on Lloyd, a blue of explosive mana balled up in the shaft and fired. Eyes wide, Lloyd dodged back at an angle just in time to miss being electrocuted with whatever resided in that gun and skidded backwards along the slippery tiles of the gantry, the soft soles of his shoes doing little for traction. Once he slowed, perilously near the edge of the unrailed platform, Lloyd felt his exsphere bite him again.

It could have been another hallucination, but Lloyd didn't think it was this time. It was warning him of something.

Looking up suddenly, Lloyd barely had time to panic as a golden shaft of pure fury slammed down at him, missing him by millimeters. The boy quickly rolled to the side, avoiding the second strike that threatened to crush him beneath it. Forcystus had forgone the usual method of a cannon, where shooting was involved, and opted for a more practical approach, smashing Lloyd to death with it instead. Lloyd dodged left and right, right again, then left, all the while not letting himself think.

'_Don't think, just do.'_

* * *

From the other side of the platform, Kratos pulled himself together from the wreckage that used to be a control panel and assessed himself. He could feel several bruises forming from where the barrel of the blaster gun had struck his chest, along with a few fractured ribs, and several lacerations thanks to the scuffle between himself and Forcystus, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He'd had worse. 4000 years of injuries, abrasions and debacles really put things into perspective for the ancient swordsman, and a few broken ribs fell pretty low on the spectrum. At least nothing was only attached by dangling by a thin piece of skin and sinew.

Though, as the focus got back into his eyes, Kratos breath hitched.

Lloyd was in trouble. No, scratch that. Lloyd was in danger of being crushed to death. Frantically, the seraph pushed himself past the dented metal wreckage and made quick work of the space between himself and his son, but there was no guarantee he'd make it time. Lloyd was virtually pinned against the far point of the balcony and it was only a matter of time until Forcystus finally got lucky and the flat shaft of his cannon felled his prey. Kratos glared. He'd almost let Lloyd be crushed in the Tower of Mana. He was not going to let that happen again.

Pieces of machinery littered his path, slowing him down even more. Whoever had designed this ranch was a dead man if he was still alive. Still, the situation looked bleak and Kratos had to do something to distract Forcystus just long enough for Lloyd to scramble to safety. He briefly lingered on the notion of casting a spell, but that in itself would take too long and time was not something Lloyd had. Kratos searched for anything he could use to help Lloyd, who was still averting the blows meant for his head on other side of the gantry, but there was nothing nearby, save Zelos.

Zelos.

Eyes flashing, the seraphim swordmaster latched onto the back of Zelos' coat, yanked him into the air and sprinted forward.

"Hey, what the hell are you-" Zelos protested, but Kratos didn't let him finish. Bringing his arm back, he threw Zelos through the air right at the back of Forcystus' head.

"YAARRRGGHHH!" Zelos screamed, flailing in mid air as he tried slowing himself by flapping his arms up and down like a deranged dragon. Forcystus, in a moment of bewilderment at what was making that infernal screech, paused his assault, glanced over his shoulder and baulked at the seven year old that was flying straight at him. Zelos tried to flip himself around so he was feet first instead of head first and it was a good thing he managed to do so at the last moment.

The heel of his foot crashed right into Forcystus' face, Zelos' weight and Kratos' pitching strength propelling the blow to new heights. The sheer force of the impromptu attack plowed right into his cheekbone, shattering his nose and throwing him off balance into the control panel. Taking the opportunity, Lloyd scraped his way out from under where he'd been and rushed back toward Kratos, his face drenched with perspiration.

"Th-thanks." Lloyd gasped, his breath ragged from too much exertion. Kratos nodded slightly, and focused his energy back into the battle. While Lloyd had been rescued from immediate peril, the fight was not over yet.

* * *

Lloyd inhaled, only to cough roughly as the oxygen burnt his lungs. He'd barely escaped his grisly fate of being squished, and the energy he'd spent had taken more than its fair share on his system. They had to end this and soon, or Kratos and Zelos were gonna be on their own. Kratos he figured would be fine, but he would never hear the end of it if Zelos was left to fend for himself.

Speaking of which, where was Zelos?

The battle worn boy shifted from left to right until he spotted the mop of ruby hair situated against the far side of the control panel. After ricocheting off Forcystus' face, Zelos had landed with a thud against the flat surface of the left control panel and collapsed with a groan. However, he didn't have much time to tend his wounds because a gigantic array of green blades tore through the air where he sat. The petite philanderer dashed off to the side, evading the spell by inches.

"That.. will not go unpunished, brat." Forcystus growled, his face covered in a fountain of blood from his broken nose.

"It wasn't MY idea!" Zelos argued tersely, but a blast of the cannon aimed at his face cut him off. The bullet of pure energy whizzed through the air and would have struck Zelos, had a hand not snatched the back of his collar and yanked him out of the way. Flustered to the point of near incomprehension, Zelos' neck whirled behind him and he glared irritatedly at his rescuer.

"You want me to just put a handle on the back of my jacket for you?" Zelos asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at Kratos who still suspended him.

"It would help." Kratos returned sardonically and dropped Zelos back to his feet.

"Now what?" Lloyd turned to his compatriots and brushed his rogue strand of unruly hair out of his eyes.

"He's injured. Now is the best time to finish him while he's weakened." Kratos replied, his gaze fixed on the wounded grand cardinal, who despite his injuries, was holding up better than expected.

"Fine by me." Zelos agreed. "I wanted out of here ten minutes ago." Nodding amongst themselves, the trio split into their own directions, Zelos going to the right, Lloyd churning off to the left and Kratos straight ahead. The oldest of the three raised his sword in a thrusting arc and charged at Forcystus, who wasted no time in blocking the opening attack with his gun arm. While Kratos distracted the grand cardinal's attention, the other two wormed their way around the ledges of the gantry, careful to stay far enough away from the ensuing battle of wills, but not so far as to fall off the edge. After he clamored over a fallen monitor, Lloyd honed in on the duel between the only two 'adults' present, reading the situation for what it was worth. Kratos matched blow for blow with Forcystus, keeping the battered half elf at bay, keeping him from the real threat forming. The half elf commander swerved his cannon prosthetic at Kratos' exposed flank, but Kratos caught the blow with the flat of his sword and forcefully pushed it back at an angle, throwing Forcystus off balance along with it.

"Now!" The seraph shouted to the two boys, his sword poised and slashed down at the half elf, slicing through his armor and chest. Forcystus stumbled backward, his hand reflexively drawn to his open wound, but fell forward as Zelos' blade sliced at his shoulder blade and the flesh part of his gun arm, shearing both with his sword. As he fell forward, Forcystus brought up his cannon arm to bash in Zelos' brains, but left the right side of his torso exposed, just long enough for Lloyd to barrel forward and carve an 'X' out of his underarm.

"Follow it up!" Kratos ordered over the din. Without thinking, Lloyd took a step backward, brought up his sword like a scepter and centered in on his target, Zelos mimicking him to a 'T'.

"Triumvirate Thrust!" All three bellowed and stabbed at Forcystus, the blades of their swords penetrating his torso and impaling him from three different angles. The half elf made an unsettling gurgling sound in the back of his throat and fell to his knees in defeat.

Lloyd sighed and sheathed his swords. The battle had been won. There was no sense in continuing. Apparently the others agreed, for they too followed suit and put their weapons to rest, eyeing the last ranch master as he forced himself to stand once more.

"How.. how could I lose to the likes of you inferior..." Forcystus groaned, coughing up some blood, his face bruised and swollen from where Zelos' foot had landed, while blood leaked from his stab wounds onto what remained of his armor. Holding his hand to the side of his chest, he staggered back dangerously close to the reactor and fumbled his footing. Lloyd made a move forward to stop him from going any further, but a firm hand caught his shoulder, forcing him to stay put. More blood trickling from his mouth onto his chin, Forcystus took his wounded, fleshy hand and wiped it away.

"How... how pathetic." The grand cardinal laughed hollowly at the blood painting his hand and took another step back. His foot caught thin air and, with nothing to catch himself on, Forcystus fell back into the cylindrical shaft leading to the core of the reactor.

"Aaaagghhh..." His voice trailed off into the abyss, leaving the three victors swamped in a mute sea of nothingness. Lloyd craned his neck up to get a better look of where Forcystus had fallen, while Zelos actually crawled over one of the control panels, peeked into the glowing chasm and swallow hard.

"Damn. What a way to go." He whistled morosely. Lloyd joined him and peered down into the bottomless pit of the reactor core. That didn't seem like the way anyone should have died, let alone someone who fought so tenaciously, even if they had been an enemy. Lloyd ran a hand over his face. Even though Marble had finally been avenged, he didn't get the feeling of satisfaction that he had with avenging his mothers upon Kvar's demise. Maybe it was the adrenaline talking, but for reasons he couldn't fathom, his victory left a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

A nasty pinch of the back of his hand however bounced him out of his serious musing and Lloyd clapped a hand over his exsphere, glaring at it.

"Yeowch that hurt." Lloyd grumbled under his breath and poked the sphere atop his hand. It responded with another tight clench and Lloyd drew his hand away like he'd been slapped, the burning sensation in the back of his hand alive and well.

"Bud, you okay?" Zelos craned his chin over his shoulder, eyebrow raised. Lloyd glanced at Zelos, shook his head and held up his hand for the older boy to see.

"My hand hurts. It's like my exsphere's biting a hole through it."

"Huh. This happen a lot for you?"

"No, not usually." Lloyd replied, scrutinizing his sphere again. He didn't think this was a normal side effect, nor had his father ever mentioned such occurrences during his work with exspheres, but Dirk admitted he didn't know everything there was about exspheres, so maybe Lloyd was missing something.

"Hm, better get that looked at then." Zelos propped his chin on the webbing between his thumb and index finger. "I'm no doctor, but exspheres chewing people doesn't sound like something normal to me."

"Yeah." Lloyd gingerly massaged the back of his hand, scowled when it 'bit' him in response and stepped away from the edge of the gantry. He'd had just enough of this place to last him a lifetime and a half and as soon as they did what they needed to do, he could get out of here and let the professor check his hand out.

However, first things came first. Lloyd skimmed over the control panel nearest him and frowned. Just how was he supposed to turn off this thing anyway? Yuan hadn't gone over any of the schematics of the ranch, nor had the professor given him a crash course in robotics, so as far as he was concerned, he'd bash it in until it stopped functioning.

A beeping sound from the right caught Lloyd's attention and upon further examination, he let go a grateful breath of relief. Kratos was fast at work doing something at the control panel, so the prospect of him having to damage the machine beyond repair would have to fall back to plan B. Whatever Kratos was doing, it looked complicated and that piqued Lloyd's avid curiosity. His fascination finally got the better of him, and, careful to avoid any fallen bits that littered the platform, he crossed it until he was side by side with Kratos.

"Kratos, what are you doing?" Lloyd stood on the tips of his shoes and peered over the seraph's forearm.

"Programming the ranch to shut down." Kratos responded curtly, his fingers flying across the keys. "The reactor is on the same power grid as the main computer, so there is little alternative."

"Oh." Lloyd drew back and frowned. That didn't sound nearly as exciting as he'd thought. He took a step back and watched Kratos work in silence, the rapid movement of the seraph catching his attention more than the machine itself. As he observed, another question drifted into his mind, one he had thought about briefly just before the beginning of the fight.

"Hey, how come Forcystus didn't know you?" Lloyd asked finally, his head at a tilt. "Aren't you pretty high up on the cruxian food chain?" Pausing his programming, Kratos regarded the boy at his side momentarily, and resumed his task.

"Forcystus is... _was_ a relatively new grand cardinal. I'd never seen him face to face before, as I'd never seen the need to reveal myself. He probably only knew of me by reputation rather than appearance." The seraph explained, pressing a few more buttons and pulling the lever at the side of the keyboard towards himself. The lights inside the reactor beyond blinked twice, flickered and then slowly died away, signifying the reactor's deactivation.

"Wow, you know a whole lot about everything, huh? Fighting, tactics, even programming machines." Lloyd stared in awe as Kratos stepped away from the panel and headed for the door. "How'd you learn all this stuff?"

"I've... lived a little longer than most humans. I've had more time to do so." Kratos responded cryptically. Lloyd halted, his mind overtaken with confusion.

"You're a half elf too? But he called you a human, and Genis would have noticed, so-"

"You're way off, Bud." Zelos shook his head as he joined them at the entrance, and wedged himself between the seraph and six year old, slinking an arm over Lloyd's shoulders. "That's 'Kratos Code' for 'older than dirt'- OW!"

* * *

"We're back!" Lloyd exclaimed as sun rays flooded his face. It seemed eons ago they'd left the light behind for the lower depths of the human ranch, and the reunion was just as joyous as Lloyd thought it would be. The other members of his team who'd opted for flushing out the surviving prisoners had arranged themselves strategically across the compound's main meadow, some fighting off the last stragglers of the ranch's personnel, while others tended to the wounded and sick.

"Lloyd, I'm so sorry!" Colette bounced forward, the ribbons in her hair bobbing up and down in the sea of yellow. "We forgot about the teams and-"

"It's okay, we shut down the reactor just fine." Lloyd quickly reassured her, "Did everyone get out okay?"

"Yes, the liberation party was a success." Presea nodded, stepping forward. She was pretty much the same as when Lloyd had last saw her, complete with Genis still sitting on her shoulders and looking very smug at his position. Though, her once crisp white dress was spattered with blood, as was her beret and arms. Her axe, on the other hand, looked like someone had taken a red paint brush to it.

"What were you guys doing?" Lloyd asked warily, eyeing the axe while Kratos and Zelos joined him at the entrance. Presea looked at her bloodstained weapon, watched it for a few seconds and looked back at Lloyd with impassive eyes.

"Yard work."

"... okay, now I'm never going to be able to look at landscaping without getting nightmares ever again." The crimson haired chosen latched onto Lloyd's shoulders as if clinging to him would stave off the impending night terrors. Rolling his eyes, the brown haired boy faced the rest of his friends who'd gathered round and shook off the barnacle known as Zelos from his person.

"The reactor's been shut down. So all we have to do is let Sheena know and-"

"You will not do anything of the sort!"

Whipping his head around, Lloyd's voice died in his throat. Barely having time to realize what was happening, a deafening, corrosive blast burst through the air, striking him square in the thoracic vertebrate and setting all his nerves on fire, along with his shirt.

"AAUGGHH!" Lloyd screamed in agony and fell in a heap on the ground. He didn't move.

"Lloyd!" Genis clamored down off Presea's shoulders, ran over to his friend, and almost tripped over Zelos, who had beaten him to it. The others were torn because they also wanted to assist their fallen leader, but from the wild way Forcystus wielded that gun, he could easily turn his fire upon Lloyd again, one of them or even potentially some of the innocent prisoners.

"How can you still be alive?" The red headed second grader demanded, horrified that anyone was capable of surviving a triple impalement, not to mention the dead drop into a nuclear reactor. "Seriously, were you a cockroach in a past life or something?"

"I am one of the Five Grand Cardinals! It'll take a lot more than that to finish me!" Forcystus barked, gun smoking and primed for another shot. "I will not fail Cruxis' last order!"

"He must not have heard how the others kicked it." Genis murmured crossly under his breath while Zelos flipped Lloyd onto his back and snapped his fingers under his nose. "Lloyd, you okay?"

Lloyd peeked a blurry eye open and groaned.

"... ow..."

"He's still breathing. That's a good sign." Genis let out a breathe of relief and wiped beads of sweat from his face. Zelos raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes.

"As opposed to the alternative." The chosen sighed, dug his arm underneath Lloyd's back and hoisted him up to a sitting position.

"I'm.. I'm okay... I think." Lloyd reached up and held his forehead with his palm, his head throbbing dangerously.

"Yeah, you're okay. Just like a strawberry is 'okay' after I make a smoothie out of it." Zelos replied sarcastically. "Don't move, mmkay?"

Lloyd had the urge to say something snippy, but the flaring ache in his back, along with his twinging exsphere, only allowed him to grunt and grudgingly watch the ensuing confrontation.

"And just what order would that be?" Kratos queried, his voice devoid of emotion. "Cruxis didn't issue any order in regard to the desian's activities, nor have they planned to do such a thing."

Forcystus turned his attention to the sole adult, sized him up, and let out a hollow laugh, one that chilled Lloyd's bones.

"You... you're a cruxian..." He whispered, putting the pieces together. "...I get it now, that makes perfect sense why you're exuding mana although you're a human. You're Kratos, the supposed 'Strength behind Cruxis'."

"And what's your point?" Kratos inquired challengingly.

"Heh.. hah heh.. no wonder... he wasn't aware... humans." Forcystus muttered drunkenly to himself, swaying from side to side at death's doorstep. ".. seems I've only thrown myself into further disgrace by saying this much. Lord Yggdrasill.. I know you wished for that whelp to be kept alive for you and he shall remain so."

Wheeling around, the half elf commander hoisted his arm gun into the air and pointed it at the crowd.

"You all, however, will not be so lucky!" Forcystus roared, all rhyme or reason gone from his face. His eyes flitted back and forth amongst his flock of potential targets, until they fixed themselves in the direction of Chocolat, the ailing old lady and the boy from before. The cannon flared with color and blast itself straight at the trio, the intensity of the mana from within draining the area like a fire would of oxygen. Chocolat shrieked and covered the old woman, while the boy darted in front of both of them, determined to use himself as a shield for the incoming blast.

However, the discharged mana slug didn't strike him. Nor did it Chocolat. Nor the old lady.

The recipient of the attack had been the chosen of Sylvarant, who'd dived in front of them at the last second, and who now laid on the ground in a charred heap of eyelet white and blue.

"Colette!" Lloyd shouted, forgetting his aching body, pushed Zelos away and yanked himself to his feet. Anger and rage fueling his body, Lloyd's redwood irises glowed bright with fury that anyone would DARE hurt one of his friends.

"YOU BASTARD!" He bellowed, and before anyone could register what he had done, Lloyd had drawn his swords, bolted at Forcystus and rammed both blades into the soft flesh of the half elf's abdomen so hard, the tips peeked through the other side, drenched in blood.

"Lord Yggdrasill... Glory to the coming age... of half elves..." Forcystus choked out to the unresponsive air and collapsed, finally succumbing to the everlasting arms of death. Lloyd exhaled raggedly and fell onto one knee, leaning on his left sword stabbed into the earth for support.

"Colette, you okay? The slender swordsman asked, peering over his hunched shoulders. "I got him and-"

Lloyd fell short when he saw Colette desperately trying to cover up her shoulder and back at the same time, failing spectacularly at both. However, what REALLY caught his attention was what she was trying to hide underneath.

Scales, blue bulbous scales like the ones on a lizard, trailed up her arm and shoulder where pink skin should've been and threatened to encroach on the rest of Colette's tiny body. It probably wouldn't have taken up so much space had she been her normal size, but now, it looked like the scale things were attempting to devour her.

"What're tho-"

"No, don't look!" Colette shrieked, frantically ducking her exposed body out of sight, at least from Lloyd's direction. "Don't look at me!" Lloyd was taken aback. Colette never acted like that before, so whatever that was on her skin, it had to be serious.

"Lloyd, send the signal!" Kratos shouted over the din and tossed a link to the boy. Lloyd caught it in one swift motion in his shrunken palm and paused.

"But what about-"

"Lloyd, there's no time!" The seraph interrupted tensely, "You may worry about the chosen's condition AFTER you make sure the rest of the world does not perish!"

Lloyd grimaced. He didn't want to just ignore one of his friends who clearly was in trouble, but the niggling little voice of reason in the back of his head told him Kratos was right. It wouldn't do Colette or anyone any good if the world got destroyed. So, instead of picking a fight with the seraph, Lloyd turned over the comlink in his palm and pressed down on the signal button.

* * *

"There's the signal!" Sheena inhaled sharply as the comlink in her hand glowed bright purple. Show time. The miniature ninja raised her arms so her hands dangled limply from her wrists and shook them out. Even though she'd spent the good part of her time in the mana cannon charging area attempting to remain calm, the hot beat of her heart still sang in her palms. Once that was taken care of, Sheena riled up her summoning juices, rearranged herself in the opening stance and started the ritual of calling forth the very embodiments of the elements themselves.

"Disciple of everlasting ice!" She bellowed out, which blasted a gust of chilling air through the room as Celsius entered the room with a light blue flash.

"Hammer of Godly Thunder!" Blasts of electric bolts rang throughout the room, frizzing out Sheena's already unruly puff, announcing the arrival of Volt.

"Servant of Mother Earth!" A flurry of earthy smelling dust brushed over the room and Gnome joined the pair, albeit from a different location on the cannon's power port.

"Envoy from the Dark Abyss!" All the light drained from the room as the last summon spirit breezed into the room and reformed at his station, smoke billowing from underneath him like a smokestack turned upside down.

"I command thee, stand before me and unleash thine power!" Sheena commanded ferociously, palms facing towards them in an open gesture.

"Huh, guess Gnome wasn't kidding." Celsius propped her icy chin upon a frosty hand and smirked. "You guys really did shrink."

"Yeah, and yeesh, enough with the fancy talk already." Gnome added lightly, tapping the side of his head with the flat end of his spade. "Lighten up would ya? It's so weird to see a kid so dang serious all the time. Do a cartwheel or somethin'."

Sheena's puff and temper bristled.

"We don't have time for this! Just do your stuff already, dammit!" She shouted, deafening the four summon spirits before her.

"Alright, alright! Yeesh, keep your hair on!" The oversized hamster relented, paws brought up in a defensive gesture.

Sheena pinched the bridge of her nose. She'd said before Gnome was very hard to deal with, but in a frantic situation, he was unbearable. Still, the summon spirits deposited their mana into the given ports with expert precision and the cannon glowed a myriad of hues, signifying its completed charge.

"Fire the mana cannon!" Sheena commanded, giving the blast signal with her arm to the control panel above.

* * *

The mana cannon stood high above the waves of the ocean like a submerged light house, detailed statues of women lined like pillars underneath the chromed dome. Mana from a world far away, yet so close, welled up underneath the roof of the mana cannon like a hand of power curling into a tightly clenched fist. With barely a second of warning, the gigantic bullet hurtled out of the cannon and flew through the atmosphere, aimed at the swirling perversion that was supposed to be the giant Kharlan Tree. The surge of raw mana soared through anything and everything, breaking through mountains and any other forms that stood in its way, as if it knew it's mission by heart. Picking up speed, the epitome of energy smashed its way into the tree, discerning a pitiful, yet distinctive moan of unadulterated agony. The piercing wail then dissipated into nothingness, taking the tree and the tower along with it.

* * *

Back at the ranch, things had ground to a stand still. The instant the earsplitting cry broke the air, the rest of the planet rendered itself into a silent stillness, as if no one dared to breathe.

"What was that scream?" Genis whispered, only daring to break the solemn air with barely a sound.

"Martel most likely. The essence of the tree is Martel after all." Kratos murmured just as quietly, his attention fixed on the air like the half elf's. Shaking himself out of the quiescent revelry, Lloyd looked over his shoulder at the other person who'd taken the brunt of the hand cannon and smiled.

"Colette, are you okay?" He asked tiredly, completely missing the fact his own shirt and scarf were badly singed, as was the skin underneath. Colette peered up from where she huddled on the ground and shook her head, obviously mortified.

"I'm gross, I'm disgusting, I'm-" She murmured, eyes filled to the brim with tears. Lloyd shook his head.

"No you're-" The six year old swordsman made to stand, but his knee buckled underneath him and he sank to it, his palms flat on the ground.

"Ack.." He groaned under his breath and shut his eyes, his vision foggy.

"Hey, Bud, take it easy-" Zelos reached over to pat Lloyd's shoulder, but wrenched his hand away like he'd been scalded. "YEOW!"

"What?" Genis asked shrilly, having jumped nearly a foot when Zelos had screamed.

"He burned me!" The chosen held up his raw palm which glowed an unsettling shade of burgundy.

"Burned?" The half elf half pint wrinkled his nose at the overly dramatic chosen. "What are you-"

A sharp groan of pain interrupted Genis' disdainful comment, sending everyone in the vicinity into a stunned silence. Lloyd had sunk down on both knees, and dug his fingers into the earth, ripping the dusty dirt asunder. He looked to be in quite a lot of pain.

"Lloyd? Lloyd you okay?" Genis asked worriedly, peering at Lloyd's face. However, while he watched Lloyd, at a loss for what to do to ease his friend's discomfort, he completely bypassed the exsphere pulsing around the keycrest that held it, flashing a bright bluish hue.

Zelos didn't.

"Whoa now!" The red headed swordsman latched onto Genis' arm with his un-crisped hand and yanked him back out of the way.

The air swirled and churned in counter motions around Lloyd, the mana in the atmosphere seeming to be drawn towards the boy on all fours. The wind kept growing stronger and stronger until a sudden burst sprang out of his exsphere and engulfed Lloyd in a torrential downpour of mana. The mana then bore into the thin boy's body and settled there, seemingly gone.

In a flash of blinding light, mana erupted from Lloyd's back and burned into the sky, making everyone dive to their arms for eye protection. A few tried looking, but quickly hid their eyes again, the bright hue of the sudden explosion too intense for their eyes to handle.

When the light finally dimmed down to the point no one's corneas were going to short out, what had just exploded out of the semi conscious boyish version of Lloyd now lilted about in the air, floating down to the earth much like the way fluffy snow would. The source of the upheaval, Lloyd, swayed from side to side and fell onto the ground, prone and unmoving.

The peculiar dance of color drifted in the air for a few moments and disintegrated within a second of hitting the earth. The rest of the color did so as well, until once again the compound looked as it had before.

After the firework show died down, the entire compound became as mute as when the giant tree had screamed a dying echo. Many of the host bodies whispered amongst themselves and even a few began to conduct 'Hail Martel's, not sure what it was they had just seen. That was a fair idea, for not even the few who'd been privy to the truth about who REALLY ran the world were sure either.

"Lloyd!" Colette gasped, and with the rest of her friends, rushed towards the thin and now unconscious boy, who laid there broken and blistered upon the dry earth.

"Ooh, ow.. right through the burned part... that's gonna hurt him later." Zelos winced, eyeing the red and raw site that had just ejected a blast of bluish, whitish... whatever that was. Careful not to do any more damage than necessary, Regal and Zelos turned Lloyd on his back and lifted his chin backwards just in case he wasn't breathing. Thankfully he was, so there was one problem they didn't have to worry about just yet.

"Lloyd!" Genis grabbed his friend's ear and yelled into it. "Can you hear us? Are you in there? Say something! Do something! Anything!"

Lloyd didn't move.

Two slaps to the face later, Lloyd still hadn't moved.

"No good, he's out cold." Presea diagnosed, her impassive eyes pressed in her version of concern.

"What the hell just happened here? He was fine one minute and now he's a pile of goo!" Zelos prodded Lloyd in the temple and frowned nervously.

"'Fine' is based on your point of view. He was never 'fine', he just got 'worse'!" The professor shot at him angrily, kneeling down to feel Lloyd's pulse. Zelos sourly glared at her.

"Well what happened then, your worship?"

"I don't know-"

"Move."

Looking up from their fallen leader, the band of misfits stared at Kratos, who towered over them all, and quickly got out of his way. Judging from the expression on his face, it was best to acquiesce his desires before he stopped asking with words and started asking with steel.

Bending onto one knee, Kratos placed his hand over Lloyd's forehead, his middle finger and thumb resting on Lloyd's temples. Narrowing his eyes, he gently scooped Lloyd into his arms and stood once again, the scrawny swordsman pressed against the older man's chest.

"We need to move him and the chosen to the safest location as quickly as possible." Kratos stated soberly, tightening his grip on the boy in his arms. Lloyd let out an unconscious whimper at being held so firmly, but didn't struggle. The professor observed him suspiciously and rested her chin in her fingers.

"So Iselia then." She concluded, never once having taken her eyes off the seraph who had Lloyd in his possession.

"But Lloyd and I were banished! We can't go back." Genis interjected desperately, dismayed at the prospect of returning to where they'd been thrown out so unceremoniously.

"The people from the ranch can't be left here on their own." Raine gestured behind herself at the dozens upon dozens of human ranch victims. "Besides, Colette needs immediate medical attention, as does Lloyd. There is no other alternative."

"But-" Genis started to counter, but Raine's dead scowl left him speechless.

"...O... okay then. We'll go to Iselia." He relented, knowing there was no point in arguing any longer. When the professor looked at anyone with that level of irritation, survival instincts dictated there was no room for adversity.

The other members seemed to agree and, with Kratos in the lead and still carrying Lloyd close to his chest, they began their trek towards Iselia, the desian ranch prisoners following them. Colette lingered back behind the others, still attempting to cover scaled arm with what remained of her dress and still failing.

"Here you go." Colette felt a flump over her shoulders and looked down at them. They'd been covered in a very lurid, very pink trench coat. The owner of said trench grinned brightly at her and gave a quick bow.

"Thank you." The cherub of a chosen blushed embarrassedly as she stared at the ground.

"Anything for a hunny in need." Zelos winked, snaked an arm around Colette's now covered shoulders and tapped her nose lightly with his finger. "Just remember me when we're all back to normal, mmkay?"

* * *

"It seems that your plan worked after all." Yuan's voice poured out from the link system box Kratos held in his hand. He'd picked it up ever since they'd departed and while it was slightly more unwieldy than that of a comlink, it wasn't too heavy. Still, he preferred to have at least one arm free while walking in case they were attacked again. As soon as his conversation with Yuan was finished, he'd be sure to pawn it off to one of the others who was not doing anything particularly useful at the moment.

"Would I be correct in saying that since the Great Seed has been saved, then Martel is still intact as well?" Kratos continued, not letting on how interested he truly was. If she had not been, how was he going to explain this to Yggdrasill and still keep his cover should he find out about his actions?

"I guess that's relatively good news for you. I wish I could say the same for me." The half elf renegade leader retorted sourly. "I heard you're heading to Iselia. I'll send Sheena there to meet you all."

"Yuan, I want you to come as well."

"What for?"

"I have something urgent I must discuss with you and it cannot wait."

"In regards to?"

Kratos fell silent. His eyes fell to the boy in his arms, his mind flashing over what he witnessed in the compound, and drew Lloyd closer. Lloyd didn't seem to mind too much, in fact he did what he'd done the last time Kratos had carried him and unconsciously pressed himself closer to the heat source holding him.

"I can't discuss it now. Just come to Iselia. I'll explain everything there." Kratos stated firmly and shut off the link.

If his suspicions were right, and he was almost certain they were, Lloyd had just entered into a new dimension of peril for his life.

* * *

"Presea, what do you have there?" Regal asked curiously. Presea had been fiddling with something ever since they departed from the remains of the human ranch, and while he would have liked to think otherwise, his newfound childish curiosity was getting the better of him.

"I saw this floating towards the ground near Lloyd. I caught it before it hit the ground and disappeared." Presea responded, twirling the object back and forth with her thumb and forefinger. "I believe this might have been what burst from his back before he lost consciousness." She held out her new toy for Regal to see, which he leaned in closer to do so. However, he wasn't sure if his eyes were working properly.

"A feather?" The former president squinted at the bizarre thing before his eyes. "What an odd design. I've never seen a bird quite that shade before."

"Indeed. I've never seen a feather of this caliber before either." Presea agreed.

"And you believe this came from Lloyd?"

"Yes."

Regal examined the feather skeptically. Lloyd may have been a skilled craftsman, but something of this detail would have been nye impossible, even for the most dextrous of silk weavers.

"How would Lloyd be able to create such a thing?"

"When I was still under the parasitic effects of the exsphere, I vaguely remember that Lloyd mentioned his mother was also part of the same project that I was, the ANGELUS project."

That caught Regal's attention.

"The same as Alicia." The blue haired boy frowned cheerlessly, gaining a weathered expression that suited someone much beyond his physical years. "Wasn't that the project to culture a specific exsphere, one that had abilities far above that of an average exsphere, and would continue to evolve as it was used?

"That was my understanding of it, yes." Presea confirmed, her tone just as abstemious.

"I see. However, didn't that project not work in the end?" Regal queried. That cursed project had been a disaster from the very beginning and he knew all too well what had happened to Alicia as a result of its ultimate failure.

"It did not yield any results from either Alicia or myself, but perhaps that was not the case with his mother's exsphere, which he now wears." The younger of the pair suggested. Nodding briefly, the miniature martial artist turned his gaze inwardly, placing the pieces side by side in the hope of discerning what this latest development meant.

"If going by that hypothesis and the exsphere really did evolve when left to its own devices, Lloyd would eventually-"

"-evolve into a higher state of being." Presea finished. "Perhaps that kind of 'higher being' was what the researchers meant."

"An angel." Regal's eyes narrowed, connecting the last parts of the puzzle together. "That does make sense, given the 'angel' in ANGELUS project."

"Mm." Presea nodded somberly. "Do you think it wise to tell the others?" Regal considered it for a minute. While they had the best of intentions, the rest of Lloyd's compatriots tended to be a tad rash at times, much like that of their ignoble leader, and would take to the news with mixed reactions. However, if they were continuously kept in the dark, Lloyd could be placed in harm's way by accident and that could lead to disastrous consequences.

"Yes, they need to know what happens in case this occurs again." Regal chose his words carefully, "However, we should not discuss it until we are well inside the village and Lloyd, as well as anyone else, is out of earshot."

"Wise. If he finds out now under such stressful conditions and with little information as we have now, he's not likely to take it well."

While the others may not have been the forefront of tactfulness, they meant well, and with a lot of coaching, perhaps he and Presea could breach the news in a way that wouldn't send them into a panic that would alert Lloyd to the delicate nature of his situation. That would only escalate things should Lloyd find out from over embellishment or worry ridden panic. The pair found themselves stride by stride in a comfortable silence, neither wishing to break it. After all they'd been through that day, silence was welcome, as was a cup of hot tea and a nap, but given the situation, they'd take the silence.

"Do you think Kratos knows?" Presea mused, shattering the fleeting silence.

"Yes, I believe he knows." Regal answered, his voice restrained. "That would explain why he insisted on tending to Lloyd after he succumbed to the world of the dreaming. If he is aware of what Lloyd has become or perhaps what Lloyd could be, that could place Lloyd in more danger than foreseen. We must tread cautiously."

Presea seemed to agree, as she said no more and trotted serenely down the path, her axe propped against her clavicle for support. Regal watched her a moment, until he found his eyes flitting back to the feather still clutched in her fist and found himself wanting to get a closer look.

"May I see the feather?" He asked, secretly chagrinned he'd caved in so easily to boyish intrigue.

"A word of warning." Presea mentioned as she held out the feather for Regal's cuffed hand.

"Yes?"

"It doesn't feel like a paw pad at all."

* * *

**Author's note:**

**Done! *head desk* **

**Genis: Go nap.**

**I cannot nap just yet. There is news still about the ToS animation United World Arc that must be shared.**

**Genis: Oh?**

**Yes, I found some news pertaining to the episodes within. There is good news and not so good news. I'll start with the good.**

**The production company is speculating that the third and final arc, the United World Arc, will be completed by the end of 2011. Of course, that's merely speculation, so here's hoping they keep their word.**

**HOWEVER,**

**There will only be two episodes to the third arc, finishing off the story.**

**Now, I know up to this point, there's quite a bit they have yet to cover. So, how they are going to pull this off, I have no clue. They'll have to make the episodes at least an hour, if not more, and that's cutting a bunch of stuff out. But, that's just my theory. They could do anything at this point.**

**Let's watch and find out.**

**So, as always, thank you for reading and please review!**


	23. Challenging Choices

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! I hoped I would get an update done faster than the last one and I think I finished with more than a month to spare. It would have been sooner, but as I have been engaged in a power struggle with computer for supremacy, so I found a pitfall here and there. I'm not sure who has the upper hand right now, but I shall keep up on the play by play.**

**Wow, it's been more than a year already since I started this. I really need to pay more attention to the flow of time.**

**So, anywho, let's get some words of gratitude in order. Grandiose thank you's to those who favorited, alerted, did both and special mention to AngelofaWhiteNight, ImJustNutty, Schwann, CrimsonpuppetP, Drakochi, Kiomori, Higashikaze, ChibiWolf86, FifthDayOfMay, Destiny's Light, KuroXIII, Arisu Tsuranu, ThePurpleRose, Kisa167, silent romantic, MysteriousClue, roxxihearts, Link Fangirl01 and Bubble-Headed Brunette who reviewed! You all are so wonderful and your comments always make it more worth the while to write!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia because... well, you know the rest.**

Chapter Twenty Three: Challenging Choices

His hand was warm. That was the first thing Lloyd noticed as he slowly came back amongst the living. Prying one bleary eye open, the prone boy lazily held his hand up to his eye and scrutinized it. Sure enough, his hand was very rosy, with lighter speckles dotting the landscape of his palm, and sported a prickly sensation that Lloyd could only characterize as strange. To be fair, it wasn't a bad kind of strange, but a good kind, like the sun beating down its rays on a crisp summer day; a soothing sort of strange that made everything feel good, safe and secure. However, knowing his track record, sensations didn't have much of an effect on the real world.

Sighing to himself tiredly, the short swordsman peeked the other eye open to join the first, as if testing the waters in a lake of dubious temperature, and peered around to make sense of his latest predicament. However, instead of getting a clue as to where he had landed himself this time, all he was met with were a swirl of dim lights and blurs of color, none of which were particularly helpful.

"Urgh, stop the world, I wanna get off." Lloyd groaned and flopped his right arm over his face, blocking out any more of the splashes of light before they made him nauseous. Even with his eyes closed, the spots swirled and swished in and out of his pupils, spinning faster and more rapidly with each passing moment. His vision took it's merry time to adjust, but once the pretty dots finished their samba across his line of view, Lloyd removed his arm from the bridge of his nose and glared at the plastered surface of the whitened ceiling.

It hadn't taken long for him to remember being struck in the back by one of the energy bullets from Forcystus' blaster gun arm thing, but honestly, how could that have done so much damage as to knock his eyes off their game the moment he tried focusing on something? He'd been hit by worse in the past and it never even slowed him down, save that one time involving the roof of the school, a mop and a broken collar bone, but he didn't talk about that.

The spiky haired boy frowned. He must've been losing his touch if that was all it took to knock him out nowadays.

'Ah well. Complaining won't get me any more closer in figuring out where I am. Better let it go, I guess.' Lloyd mentally shrugged, gingerly sat up and looked around. Apparently, he was lying in a bed in a bedroom of a simple, plain, but oddly tasteful house. It was fairly barren, save the essentials and a few other trinkets, but all and all whoever lived here took good care of their possessions. From the wooden jewelry chest engraved with flower etchings to the carved dog figurine that sat on top of the table next to the painted mirror, everything was in its place, perfectly preserved for when the true occupant of the room returned.

'Okay, I figure I know how I got here, but where is here?' Lloyd mused as he let his eyes trace over the molding of the ceiling and the white wash that coated the paneled walls. They lingered momentarily on the slightly chipped corners of the room's crown molding and floated down the wall onto the floor, then onto the furniture and then back to the quilt covering his legs and bottom half of his torso. The quilt was constructed of mismatched patches of blue and white, yet came together in a sort of conglomeration that strangely enough worked, despite the difference of patterns and texture. Lloyd stretched out a hand and lightly felt the worn surface for awhile before something else caught his eye and stopped him.

Next to the lightly stained bedside table was a simple stool that had been scooted up close to the side of the bed frame. It was positioned in a way that the occupant most likely would've sat with their body parallel to his own, but would have had no problem looking at him if they so chose. Lloyd wrinkled his nose and eyed the piece of wayward furniture suspiciously. Had someone been keeping him company while he slept?

Lloyd eventually tore his eyes away from the suspect stool and glanced down at his right hand, still prickling away with the same feeling he got when he let his leg fall asleep. He then looked at the stool again and raised an eyebrow. Stretching his hand out as far as he could reach, Lloyd carefully placed it on the seat of the stool and felt along the surface.

It was still warm. Judging from the heat radiating from the stool, whoever had been sitting there hadn't been gone very long. After a few moments of running his hand back and forth over the smooth, polished seat, Lloyd retracted his hand and let it rest again in the folds of the quilts bunched around his stomach. Well, he couldn't be sure precisely where he was, but wherever was here, he didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, and chances were good that his friends were probably close by, ergo a warm seat. That was a definite plus.

Relieved at the prospect another scavenger hunt for his friends again wasn't too high up on the possibilities list, Lloyd sat up straight, stretched his arms over his head, gyrated one shoulder and then the other. The muscles in his shoulders must have taken offense to his actions, because they stiffened and allied with his shoulder blades, who also were less than pleased with his efforts to loosen himself up.

'I must have really slept hard.' The slight six year old frowned uncomfortably, rolling his shoulders again and wincing when they tightened further. He only ever got stiff shoulders when he slept in one spot and that only happened when he pushed himself near the brink of collapse. Normally he didn't have too much of a problem with that sort of thing, but ever since he'd downsized, it had practically become an every day occurrence. Snorting, Lloyd shot his shoulders a dirty look and sighed exasperatedly. He'd have to watch it and pace himself before he REALLY got himself into trouble.

While he worked away at trying to get his back and shoulder muscles to cooperate, Lloyd heard something. It was very faint, almost like a hushed whisper courtesy of a flea, but it was clear enough that he could tell he wasn't imagining it. It sounded like two people talking in a very soft register, as if there was another person in the very same room who they did not want to overhear.

Raising an eyebrow, Lloyd looked around the room again. There wasn't anyone in the room with him, that much was obvious, so where were those voices coming from? They weren't strong enough to be behind the door at the far end of the room, nor were they outside and he was pretty sure they wouldn't have been hiding in the closet, so that didn't leave Lloyd with a ton of options. He thought for a few minutes, until a deeper voice broke apart the two voices, who, from the sound of things, had been bickering with each other. Sighing to himself, the brown haired boy pinched the bridge in exasperation at himself.

The voices weren't far away from him. They were_ below_ him.

It was that, or the floor had suddenly become sentient and decided to chat, which Lloyd figured was very unlikely. The voice was familiar and to his knowledge, Lloyd hadn't ever made the acquaintance of a floorboard in the past. Still watching the hardwood floor, the skinny swordsman craned his neck over the side of the bed and narrowed his eyes. Whatever they were discussing downstairs, it had to be important for them to have such muted voices even when there weren't any other people around to overhear them.

He knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but at the same time, his curiosity was just killing him. Besides, he had to get his hands on any information he could and what better way then to hear it from the source?

Satisfied with his lame justification, Lloyd carefully peeled back the quilt, exposing his bare shins and calves and stretched one foot until it grazed the floorboards. He then let out a yelp of surprise, clapped his hand over his mouth and yanked his leg back onto the bed. The floor was freezing and had bitten at his bare foot the nanosecond he'd set it on the ground.

'Smooth, Lloyd, smooth.' Lloyd internally groaned. Hopefully the people below hadn't heard him. Swallowing hard, he listened again for the sound of hushed voices. Thankfully, they didn't seem to have heard him, for they continued on talking. Lloyd let out a breath of relief and, bracing himself for the chilly floor, slid out of the bed and crouched down onto the floor as softly as he could manage. The aged hardwood creaked under his weight, but he paid it little mind. Taking as much care as he could to keep the fact he was awake a secret, though he'd done a less than spectacular job only moments before, Lloyd leaned downward towards the floor and pressed his ear to it.

"-quite surprising that happened to the poor boy, but he was always a tad different from the others." He heard an old woman's voice murmur. Blinking, Lloyd pressed his face closer to the floor and listened again. Sure enough, he knew that voice from years of experience to belong to Phaidra. No one else could sound that old and brittle, yet that authoritative at the same time. But what would Phaidra be doing here? She was in Iselia and he wasn't...

... Oh no.

Lloyd sat stick straight up and blanched. Iselia. Of all the places he could have landed himself, why did it have to be Iselia? There was no other explanation for Colette's grandmother to be near by, as it was well known she seldom left the village, if only for the temple. It made enough sense, Iselia was the closest settlement near the human ranch and the prisoners had to go somewhere, regardless of from where Lloyd had been punted. Also, he'd conveniently been out of it, so he hadn't had the chance to tell them all Iselia was an awful idea, due to the whole 'being banished' thing. Great.

Muttering under his breath, Lloyd pinched the bridge of his nose and ran a hand through his hair. He could worry about the villagers and that bigoted idiot of a mayor later. He had to focus, or otherwise he'd miss whatever was going on. Besides, maybe if he was lucky, they wouldn't recognize him now. Perhaps this kid thing was starting to pay off after all.

Shoving that aside, the spiky haired first grader sank to the floor once more and tuned in for the conversation below.

"-Nowhere is safe for her as it stands now." A deeper voice stated, who Lloyd recognized this time to belong to Kratos. "If she stays here, the Chosen won't receive the treatment she needs and will surely perish." Lloyd's eyes widened and he pushed the side of his face farther into the floor. What did he mean by 'perish'? Lloyd knew what that meant ever since he'd drunk that milk Genis had said was 'perished' and had been sick for three days with food poisoning. Colette couldn't be in that sort of danger of dying, could she? Kratos sounded really serious, but then again, he was always serious. It couldn't be anything that bad. She'd just gotten an infection or a really nasty rash, right?

Though, try as he might to convince himself otherwise, the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he was clinging to a lie.

"Why is this happening to the Chosen?" The third voice, Frank, asked nervously. "I've never heard of a chosen whose journey incorporated this sort of trial."

"It's not a trial. From what I can tell, it seems she is suffering from a reaction to the keycrest that was placed upon her cruxis crystal and that is causing her skin and body to crystalize."

Lloyd's heart sank into his stomach. The key crest he'd made trying to save Colette had only made matters just as bad, if not worse. At least last time he knew what was wrong with her, a lack of soul. He knew how to fix that. Add a soul and Colette would be back to normal. Lloyd had figured that since the keycrest attached to her necklace had given her back her soul, it had done its job properly. He'd had no clue his crest would've been more harmful than what the damn thing cured.

"If that's all that's wrong, couldn't the key crest be removed?" The old priestess asked, keeping a better lid on her emotion anguish than Frank.

"That would cause her to lose her soul and leave her just a vessel." Kratos responded militantly. "That wouldn't help her condition either, as the damage has already been done and merely taking it away would not reverse the process."

The brown haired boy's rogue strand flitted into his face, but he didn't have the heart to brush it away. First the tower and now this. How was he going to fix his latest mistake this time? He promised he wouldn't make any more mistakes, but lately that seemed like all he was capable of doing. Despite his face still glued to the floor, Lloyd's hand curled into a fist and a determined gleam flickered in his eyes. He may have made a mistake, but there was a chance he could correct it before it got too far out of his reach. There had to be a way, there just had to be. And whatever that was, Lloyd would do anything and everything to find it. He couldn't give up now, not when he had wrongs to rectify.

"Is there anything that can be done to treat her condition?" The old woman, as if reading his mind, probed further. For once, Lloyd was grateful Phaidra was as thorough as they came. Usually he found the whole questioning thing to be really annoying, especially when he knew it was going to end with him getting into a whole barrel of trouble, but this time it might actually prove useful.

"The only way for anyone to surely know is for a dwarf or someone of that trade to diagnose her and prescribe the proper remedy."

"Then please, I beseech you." Colette's father requested soberly and even though Lloyd couldn't see him, he could tell just from the way he... _felt_, he was desperate beyond measure. "Would you escort Colette to see Lloyd's father that lives just beyond the remains of the human ranch? Perhaps he may be of help."

Silence followed Frank's plea, but since no one made a sound that they'd moved a muscle, Kratos was probably milling it over.

"... yes, perhaps." The seraphim swordmaster finally relented, his voice more clipped and contrite than before. "Then I shall escort her upon your request."

"We are eternally grateful-"

"That is not necessary. It is... my job."

"Yeah, that's the truth, alright." Lloyd muttered at the hardwood floor, but something niggling in the back of his head made him pause. While initially the lilliputian boy had meant that in a sarcastic manner, the more he thought about it, Kratos wasn't being entirely untruth. Keeping an eye on Colette was technically his job, wasn't it? He just wasn't specifying who employed him. That way he could tell the truth, but only to a point. That's probably what made him so damn convincing. Sneaky.

However, what really horrified Lloyd was that for a fleeting second, he felt something akin to admiration for Kratos' masterful skills with loopholes.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have another pressing matter to which I must attend." Kratos' voice broke him out of his revelry and footsteps clattered across the wooden baseboards towards the door.

"Of course. Shall we leave Lloyd upstairs?"

"That is fine, but please alert me when he regains consciousness." The seraph opened the door and a firm crunch of door meeting door frame reverberated into Lloyd's ears. Nothing else of interest followed, only the chatter between Phaidra and Frank and nothing more.

The floor had long since warmed up from when he'd first crouched on the floor thanks to his body heat, but body heat came with a price. It made the whole floor sticky. So, when Lloyd removed his hands, knees and cheek from the floor, it made its signature squelching noise like he'd stomped on a bunch of grapes and left his shins, palms and cheek bright and rosy.

"I'm not sticking around that long." Lloyd murmured curtly as he got to his feet and dusted off his arm. He had information to relay and he didn't have time to waste around here. That, and he'd get bored. As he dusted, Lloyd glanced down at himself and for the first time that day, realized his red shirt was gone. Instead he was met with a sea of blue fabric. Curiously, the six year old swordsman trotted over to the mirror.

His shoulders slumped when he peered into it.

He was wearing a dress.

Well, not really a dress, but it sure as hell looked like one.

Where the red shirt Kratos had bestowed upon him used to be now draped a royal blue, thigh long tunic with bell sleeves. The bell sleeves were adorned with white embroidered flowers whose stems snaked up the length of the sleeve onto the shoulder pieces and flared out onto the base of the shirt in a display of sewing expertise. It was beautiful and would have looked so had it been on a girl, but Lloyd was a boy and didn't appreciate it that much.

He could tell he was wearing his shorts underneath, but they were barely visible underneath the hem of the shirt, so it gave the illusion he was without pants, something he found to be most unsettling. Feeling his pride lose at least ten points, Lloyd groaned and tore his eyes away from the mirror.

"I'd say, 'can this day get any worse?', but I don't want to tempt fate." The slender swordsman rubbed at his eye and sighed. "It hasn't been kind lately."

He'd have to ignore that minor indignity of a dress for now. Finding a way out was more important than his fashion disaster. Lloyd's immediate idea was to head for the door, but that would have let them know he was awake, so that was out of the running. Also, on further inspection, the door had been locked from the outside anyway. Lloyd frowned. His only other option would be the window, but the downside was he was on the second story and there weren't any guarantees he'd make a smooth landing.

Not that it had stopped him last time, but flailing through the air, getting mauled by a nun and a half hour of folding laundry had made him promise he'd think about the consequences of jumping out of windows before he made the leap. The professor would've fainted had she heard he'd been trying at least make an effort to learn from the past.

The more he thought about it, the more Lloyd realized his only ticket out of the room was through that window. He'd figured as much from the beginning, but he'd kept his promise to himself and that was enough to justify anything else that happened afterwards. At least, that's what he told himself.

However, his plans were shot the instant he crossed the room and saw the gigantic iron padlock clamped over the window handles.

'Crud, it's locked.' Lloyd glowered at the lock. Apparently he hadn't been the only one who'd learned from the past.

After biting down a few choice swears, the slender six year old pawed around the room for any signs of a key, but there were none to be found. Whoever had applied the lock, and Lloyd was positive Kratos had been behind it, hadn't been so foolish as to leave it on the top of the door frame or in a spare drawer. To make matters more complicated, his swords and supplies weren't in the room either, which Lloyd suspected to also be Kratos' work. He'd kept a spare tool and pick kit in one of his packs, but that had been in his belongings which said seraph had purloined, so that did him little good.

Feeling utterly defeated, Lloyd milled back over to the window and flopped his chin onto the sill. As he hung there, his cherrywood eyes wandered over to the lock and he grasped onto it, his hand barely covering the lock's surface.

'Hm... this looks like a standard run of the mill lock.' Lloyd mused lackadaisically, flipping over the lock and eyeballing it for specifics. It didn't seem like anything too fancy. He'd broken into places with better locks than this in his sleep, or at least that's what he'd told his Dad when Dirk had found him in the sword shed at two in the morning brandishing an axe in one hand and a sword in the other when he was twelve.

'I wonder if Colette has a hair pin around here somewhere.' The slight swordsman removed himself from the windowsill and peered around. The well loved jewelry chest caught his eye after a moment of searching, which he then snagged and propped on his lap. He didn't usually make a habit of snooping through people's things, especially not those of his friends, but Colette would understand this was an exception.

Upon lifting out the top tray, the brown haired brat located a tiny pouch filled with hair pins and retrieved one from the sack. Pin in hand, Lloyd then raced back to the window and wasted not a minute to pick the lock.

'Aha, victory!' He beamed once he heard the tell tail 'click' and the lock fell slack. His first instinct was to throw it on the floor and stomp on it a few times, but that probably wouldn't have been the wisest thing he could have done. So, he instead set it quietly on the bedside table, returned the bobby pin back to its pouch and silently put the jewelry box back to its rightful place.

Now all that was left was ditching this party. Thankfully, Kratos hadn't taken his shoes, though the socks were strangely missing. Lloyd raised an eyebrow. Did the seraph really think Lloyd would let a little thing like no socks keep him? Shrugging, Lloyd pulled on one shoe, then the other, and trotted back to the sill. The windows had swung open of their own accord, allowing him to hook one leg over the ledge, then the other and hoist himself onto the sill like a bench.

The drop wasn't nearly as high as it had been at the House of Guidance, but there wasn't an awning to catch him should he slip, so he'd have to be extra careful. There wasn't any sand either to cushion his fall either, but there was something that caught his attention.

Their love of flora legendary throughout Iselia, the Brunel's had attached one of those flowery ladders to the side of their house, one that was conveniently within reach from Colette's window.

One that looked big enough to support a young boy.

Grinning, Lloyd shimmied across the ledge as well as he could manage and angled his leg over towards the ladder. His foot touched down on the wooden supports and, with a gust of momentum coupled with a leap of faith, Lloyd latched onto the ladder and began climbing down.

'That wasn't so bad.' He thought, satisfied at his ingenuity. Unfortunately, Lloyd hadn't taken into account that ladders designed for flowers only flared out at the top and tapered off into one pole at the bottom.

He found out about it soon enough. About halfway down, his foot met thin air and he slipped, lost his grip and plummeted towards the hard earth.

Thankfully a rosebush broke his fall.

"Ouch... oops." Lloyd grunted as he wrenched himself off the now desecrated remains of the rosebush and massaged his lower back. Glancing over his shoulder, he grimaced at the squished shrub and hoped his back didn't look nearly that scrunched. The rosebush had obviously been well taken care of at one point, though it now resembled a spider that had met the business end of a hammer. Lloyd inched away as quickly as he could from the crushed bush, praying nobody would notice the pancake that used to be a plant until he was far away from the crime scene.

Lloyd sighed. So much for a smooth escape. Well, at least he escaped and no one had witnessed his lapse of grace-

Lloyd fell short when he saw a pair of green eyes staring at him like he'd sprouted a tail. A little girl no older than himself was watching him from across the street, a bear latched firmly in her grip, and from the way she clutched at it, she'd been caught unawares by the boy landing in a shrub.

Lloyd felt his face burn bright crimson and clapped his hand over his forehead in frustration. Summoning all the dignity he had left after that little debacle, the skinny swordsman straightened to full height and walked down the street like nothing had happened. He strode past the gate in front of the little girl's house, head held high, and looked out the corner of his eye at her.

"You didn't see anything." He whispered out the side of his mouth and resumed his strides towards the front of the village as quickly as he could without breaking into a sprint.

* * *

"I can't believe they booted you guys outside without telling you what the hell's going on!" Sheena fumed at her friends from underneath the shade of an oak tree. The last of the party to regroup, save Lloyd who was still recovering at Colette's house, she'd only recently been briefed on the situation as it stood, or in their case, didn't stand. With the combined shooing of Phaidra and a series of threatening glares courtesy of Kratos, the once adults were successfully barred from the meeting on the grounds they weren't 'old enough' and had been thrown out of the house to 'go play'. If that wasn't enough to bruise their egos, Yuan had made a brief appearance as well, dropped Sheena off and promptly departed, not even paying any attention to when they'd shouted questions, or in Zelos' case, curses at his retreating back.

So there they sat underneath the shade of the lone oak tree near a burned out old house in the front of the town, snubbed with bleeding egos and no information betwixt the seven of them.

That had left Sheena in a particularly foul mood, to put it mildly.

"I can. They wanted their 'grownup talk' and apparently we don't qualify." Genis exhaled exhaustedly from his perch on top of a metal pail. "It doesn't matter we may be in the head. They see in the body and that's it."

"Story of your life, right little man?" Zelos, who'd sprawled himself out on the grass looked upside down at Genis and grinned lopsidedly. Genis shot Zelos a dirty glare.

"Shut up Zelos!"

"Back to what you were saying, Regal." Raine asked Regal, clutching her staff in one hand while Zelos groaned and held his freshly battered head. "You believe you may have some idea as to what occurred with Lloyd's condition?"

"Yes." The petite president readjusted himself where he sat crosslegged on the grass. "Presea and I were discussing Lloyd's predicament, and before we can make a solid hypothesis, we need some answers to our remaining questions."

"It was mentioned earlier that Lloyd's mother participated as a subject in the Angelus Project, did it not?" Presea inquired over her shoulder while submerging her white beret in cold water to get some... _stains_ out.

"Yeah, one of the Desian Grand Cardinals told him about it when we were stuck in the Asgard Ranch the first time. I think it was Kvar." Sheena affirmed, one raven eyebrow raised. "What about it?" Presea returned her gaze to the bucket and swished her hat back and forth with her palm, the red splotches giving way slightly.

"I vaguely remembered something like that, but as I was still subdued by my own exsphere's effects at that time, I was not entirely sure I had recalled it properly." She replied after a while, still watching her hat bob back and forth like a buoy. "In my state, I remember seeing Lloyd was most passionate about his exsphere. Was this exsphere the object of many disputes?"

"Oh yeah. That's one of the reasons why Lloyd and I were banished in the first place." Genis shook his head wearily, his tone and eyes laced with bitterness. "Forcystus recognized it right after he saw Lloyd fight, and Kvar did everything he could in an effort to get his slimy mitts on it." The half pint half elf leaned against the side of his bucket and sank his back against the tree.

"Practically everyone we ran into in the beginning wanted it for themselves. Strangely enough, it kinda fell out of the limelight after Colette lost her soul." He mused, his delicate chin propped up by his hand. "We were all so preoccupied, we kinda forgot about it."

"Was it ever specified as to what made that exsphere so desirable?" Regal pressed interestedly.

"Actually... I don't think it ever was." Sheena ran a hand through her hair, which resulted in an even larger puff. "Kvar said it was really important to his own success, but never said any specifics as to why. But I will tell you this. If that whack job was after it that bad, it had to be worth more than any run of the mill exsphere, that's for sure."

"Hmm... interesting." Presea exchanged a glance with Regal, who caught her gaze and nodded. From where he laid upside down on the grass, Zelos' eyes flitted from one to the other and narrowed suspiciously.

"Hey, Claire and Voyant, don't leave us in the dark over here." The redheaded chosen flipped over and foisted his index finger at them. "What's this got to do with Bud and his firework show?" The oldest, mentally and now physically, looked to each other and, silently agreeing, turned back to their compatriots.

"We have reason to believe that Lloyd has evolved into a higher state of existence." Regal rested the side of his head against a dilapidated wheelbarrow and peered off into the sky. "A superior being, if you will." The other five watched him momentarily, trying to piece together what he'd meant. As if a switch flipped on, Genis' nose wrinkled and he leaned forward, almost falling off his bucket altogether.

"'Superior being'?" He repeated suspiciously, hands clamped on the rim of the pail. "Like the opposite of an 'inferior-"

"You can't possibly mean what I think you are." Raine interjected, just as horror stricken as her younger brother. The preteen president glanced at them both momentarily and nodded once before returning his gaze upwards.

"Yes." Presea confirmed flatly as she pulled her hat out of the wash pail and wrung it out. Both half elves paled, which was impressive given their already porcelain pallor and began to fidget, which was uncharacteristic for Genis and just downright bizarre for the Professor.

"What?" Sheena looked from Raine to Genis and then back again, completely lost yet really not liking the expressions either of the half elves sported. "What's got you two in such a bind all of a sudden?"

"He's saying that Lloyd evolved into an angel or at least something like that." Genis responded shakily while he gripped the bucket to keep himself from wavering off. Colette covered her mouth with her hands in shock, Sheena's jaw dropped and even Zelos was at a loss for words.

"... you're joking, right?" The petite philanderer hoisted himself onto his shins and sank his knuckles into the soft grass to anchor himself. Alright, he was at a loss for words, but that didn't have a truly lasting effect. Regal glared at Zelos with a mixture of disdain and exasperation.

"Chosen, I assure you if I was joking I would have let you know afterwards."

"Just how do you know this anyway?" Sheena demanded hotly, puff every which way. "Sure he's a little off keel, but he's never shown signs that he was going through some kinda angelic puberty, now has he?"

"Actually, that isn't entirely true." The professor countered apprehensively. "In all the years I've been observing him, Lloyd has never been exactly what anyone could call normal."

"So what?" Genis demanded from his bucket. "Lloyd's Lloyd and that's all that matters! We're not normal and he doesn't care!"

"I agree with Genis." Colette piped up as well. "Lloyd's a good person and our friend."

"I know he is a good person, but hear me out." Raine held up her hand in a teacher like fashion to stop any more budding outbursts. "This does make some sense when you reassess the situation as it stands. Lloyd may have started out weaker than some, but he always improves faster than anyone I've ever seen, unless if you count book work, of course."

"That's 'cause Lloyd actually _cares_ about not dying." Genis grinned wryly, his chin propped on his knee.

"Very amusing. Still, if we factor in his exsphere's amplification, along with the theorized ability of the sphere to evolve into a more powerful state of existence, that would explain one aspect about him that I have always been curious about." The professor replied. "Perhaps it wasn't just giving him new abilities, but altering him altogether."

"That would explain why Kate was having a field day with that blood sample." Zelos murmured into his arm. Unfortunately for him, Presea caught it.

"What blood sample?" She inquired, her wet hands flicking water onto Zelos' face.

"After we sprung Kate from prison, she took samples of all our mana, blood and skin in an attempt to see what was wrong with us, y'know the whole kid thing." The second grade swordsman responded, wiping his face of the water with his sleeve. "Anyway, she came back with the results after we got back from Shadow, and was asking us all kinds of questions about him."

"Yeah, she wouldn't leave us alone about it. _What is he? What kind of being? Is he human_?" Sheena added with a rather odd and nasally impersonation of Kate before she shook her head and flicked a strand of hair off her nose. "You'd think she was writing a book report."

"So she was interested in his race?" Regal raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Kate kept banging on about it. She couldn't tell from the mana, I think. It didn't match up with anything or something like that. That probably means this has been going on for a while, probably since before we shrank."

As the realization they'd had a budding angel under their noses the entire journey sank in, the seven fell silent and still. They'd known that Lloyd wasn't ever normal for a human, and in a twisted sort of way, it felt strangely appropriate that in the end he wasn't even one in the first place. He may have started out that way, but that was then and this was now.

"So you're saying Lloyd's exsphere went and turned him into an winged warlord?" Zelos reiterated, breaking the uncomfortable quiescence that had blanketed their conversation. "Huh, guess there's a first for everything."

"What do you mean?" Sheena eyed him skeptically, eyebrow caulked.

"It's common knowledge it's a cruxis crystal that starts the process for the angel transformation for a chosen. It messes with the chosen's mana or something and at the end of it, you get one ripe and ready angel, ready to smite any and all that get in the way." The seven year old squirt replied whilst twirling a lock of hair around his finger. "I've never heard of a normal exsphere able to do that though. You get a power up sure, but not like that."

"That might have been the aim of the project." Raine hypothesized. "I believe that Lloyd's exsphere was actually a fledging Cruxis Crystal, but one cultured on a human host. A prototype of sorts. If the Desians could create an army of synthesized angels, just think of the havoc they could wreak on the declining world."

At that thought, an involuntary shiver ran up everyone's spines and several contracted a severe case of goose bumps. The Desians did enough damage on their own. The last thing they needed was help.

"Fortunately, the project was all but a failure. No other successful ones were created." Regal pointed out heavily. "They either subdued the host's sentience or..." His voice trailed off when met with six understanding pairs of eyes and remained that way. They all knew to what he was eluding and given a few sparse yet recent events, no one wanted to relive the memories of just what a rogue exsphere was capable of doing.

"Maybe that project wasn't such a failure after all." Genis murmured tiredly. The others muttered their agreement in just as energetic a tone and fell idle once more. The problem wasn't they didn't want to discuss what that would mean, but that train of thought led them down into a path none were willing to follow.

"We should see if we can dig up some more info on it when we search for a way to help Colette get well again." Sheena suggested after she tucked the last piece of her sleeve into her gauntlet, the quiet having rattled what nerves she had left. Shaken from their stupor, all eyes fell on Colette, who blushed a dusty rose at suddenly being the center of attention.

"Everyone, you really don't need to do anything for me-"

"Don't say stuff like that, Colette, of course we do." Genis interrupted intensely, his fingers white from gripping the rim of his bucket too hard. "You're our friend, and if Lloyd wasn't unconscious in your room right now, he'd say you're going to be okay and we'd find a way, and we will."

"But-"

"No buts." Zelos grinned and tapped the wink of her nose. "Besides, we're gonna need your help and all the help we can get if we're going to make sure Lloyd doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Namely, the associates of 'Tall, Dark and Spiky' and 'The Caped Wonder'." As if on cue, a collected groan escaped into the air and sank into their shoulders like a winter rain shower. As if matters couldn't more strenuous already. If Lloyd truly was a budding angel like their theories insisted, their problems would only _begin_ to start the moment Cruxis found out what they already suspected.

"He's got a point. If we managed to figure it out, Kratos'll have known for at least twice as long and it won't be long before Yuan knows too." Sheena grimaced unhappily.

"What are we gonna do?" Genis spluttered, nervously twisting one of the straps on his overalls. "If Kratos knows, it won't be long before the rest of Cruxis knows too and then Lloyd will be in even more danger. I'm worried."

"I know, Genis. We all are." Raine reached out a hand from her poncho to pat her brother's shoulder. "Lloyd must go into hiding or at least keep a low profile. If Cruxis figures out there's another angel running around that's not on their payroll, they will try to assassinate him or even worse, attempt to rally him to their cause."

"Lloyd would never join them!" The half pint half elf bounded off the bucket and out of his sister's reach, utterly horrified she'd even insinuate such a notion. "You know that, Sis!"

"I know. That will also result in his demise as well. They must not find out. That's why he must stay under the radar at all costs. We have Yuan kept quiet since we have information that could be detrimental to his work and his health, but if any information about Lloyd slips out-"

"But how will we find a cure for Colette if we're hiding and staying under the radar..." Genis protested, but his indignation faltered. His eyes locked with Raine's and the more he gazed at her, the more he realized what his sister was driving at. The resigned sadness behind her eyes said that much.

"You mean... you mean he can't come with us?" He finally voiced his suspicions, praying to whomever would listen that he was wrong. Unfortunately, he rarely was.

"It pains me to say it, but Lloyd would probably be safer if he wasn't with us." The Professor folded her hands in her lap and didn't meet his eye any longer. "We have a limited amount of time to find the cure for Colette and Lloyd's presence will only slow us down and put him at unnecessary risk."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Genis gaped at her, taking a step back to steady himself. "I don't want to." There had to be another way so that Lloyd could come along too. Just because he could be an angel, Genis wouldn't believe it until he had concrete evidence, didn't mean he should get tossed aside. Lloyd didn't toss him aside when he found out he was a half elf and this was no different. Just reversed roles.

"I don't either, but if we don't split up, nobody will be safe for long." Sheena sighed tensely, her shoulders stiff and puff spiked. "I hate to say it, but we don't have any other options. If we all want to keep everyone breathing, we've gotta do this."

"But where would Lloyd go?" The half elf rebuffed fiercely while his collar and cheeks dimmed red. "He can't go by himself and sending him with the renegades would be like turning him over to Cruxis. He can't stay with Dirk either. They probably know about him by now too."

Colette stayed quiet in her corner and fiddled with her hands in her lap, feeling terrible. Not physically so much, but emotionally she looked wracked with guilt. All of this, the ranch and the tree, what happened to Lloyd and now that weird scaly thing on her shoulder, was happening so fast and yet it seemed like there was nothing she could do to help. After all, a good portion of this was her fault. If not for her illness, Lloyd would not need to be separated. It wasn't like Lloyd was dangerous. He was a good person, but just needed to have someone keeping an eye on him...

With nary a warning, the petite acolyte stuck her arm straight in the air and waved it back and forth. Taken aback somewhat, the Professor glanced at her and with a sigh, called on her like they were still in class.

"What about Mister Kratos?" The cherubim chosen suggested. "He's helped us so far-"

"Colette, hun-bun, are you serious?" Zelos' jaw hit the ground and he turned a sickly shade of green. "That's the guy we're trying to keep AWAY from Lloyd! And besides, didn't the past few days prove that Kratos as a babysitter seriously sucks? He wouldn't let anyone get to the summon spot, left Lloyd in a tower, and THREW me at Forcystus!"

Everyone dropped the various conversations they were in the midst of and gawked at him, expressions ranging from skepticism to exasperation to barely restrained laughter.

Normally Zelos adored people showering him with attention. Then not so much.

"... well, he did."

One mutual eyerolling later, quietude and dust had settled once more as Colette's notion sank into their minds. After a minute or three, the Professor hauled herself to a standing position, dusted herself off and faced her compatriots.

"Given our current situation, that may not be a bad idea." Raine mused aloud as she began to pace.

"Have you all lost it?" Zelos gaped, but was ignored all the same.

"-we do have information that is harmful to Kratos' status in Cruxis, after all. If we use that against him as leverage, he won't have any choice but to cooperate." The tiny teacher continued seamlessly, her paces wearing a hole in the dirt.

"Oh, I get it." Sheena nodded like she was some all knowing guru with her head caulked at an angle. "'Watch over Lloyd and we won't rat you out.' Clever." Regal and Presea seemed to agree with that idea, and even Zelos finally relented that was pretty sly even by his standards, though the expression on his face still screamed he didn't like it.

Genis was less than assuaged. In fact, all he looked was annoyed.

"Isn't that blackmail and isn't blackmail illegal?"

"Are you really going to argue bureaucratically right now?" The Professor snapped curtly at her brother. "We have little options and not much to work with, so we must make do with what we have."

"Perhaps that may be so, but exactly how do you plan on convincing Lloyd of such a venture?" Regal inquired, "After what occurred last time he embarked on such a venture, convincing him may prove futile."

"We'll just turn the conversation in our favor and get Lloyd to go along with it." Raine replied simply. "He'll be none the wiser, not that he ever was, mind you, but you get the point."

"And how do you propose we accomplish that?"

"That's what we have Zelos for. He can talk his way in and out of just about anything." Sheena responded casually while hooking a thumb at the red headed seven year old. "He's gotta be good for something. We might as well use him."

"Can you please not talk about me like I'm not here?" Aforementioned chosen spouted crabbily, looking rather affronted at her smart remark. "I have ears, y'know."

"Then it's settled." Presea said flatly while she pulled a rag out of her pocket and started to wipe random debris from the blade of her axe. Murmurs of agreement, some somewhat bitter, circled through the group of pseudo children until another lull set in, leaving them all without conversation.

"You don't think... _he'll_ try to pull something sneaky, do you?" Genis burst out of the stagnant calm, tendrils of silver hair frilled out to their full span. "Y'know, mess with Lloyd's head and use him for his own purposes or something?" The others exchanged looks. It went without saying who the '_He_' was that Genis meant.

"Genis, I don't think Mister Kratos would do that." Colette patted her school mate's back in an attempt to console him.

"Colette, I know you want to think the world of everyone and I commend you for that, but you have to realize that while he did help us, Kratos is still our enemy and we have to consider that his intentions are less than pure. Genis may have a point." The Professor exhaled fatiguedly and ceased her prowling back and forth like an expectant chimaera awaiting breakfast. "If he is fully aware of Lloyd's condition, there is a possibility he would try to use him to his own ends. Blackmail alone may not be enough to subdue him."

"Then why are we even thinking about putting Lloyd in that position at all?" Genis fiercely demanded, anger pouring off him in waves. "It doesn't make any sense! If that's a possibility that Lloyd could get taken advantage of, why are you all so intent on putting him there in the first place? Hide him, fine, but not where he could get hurt!"

"If you think I enjoy the idea of placing Lloyd in harm's way, you are greatly mistaken." Raine rebuffed, her tone just as intense. "However, we have no other choice. I know you are concerned, but you are going to have to let go of your worry and think from a logical standpoint." Genis didn't even begin to look like he wanted to let go of his concern for his wayward friend, but shut his mouth anyway. Feeling utterly defeated, the petite preschooler wandered back to his pail, clamored onto the surface and sighed dejectedly, his shoulders limp. At that point, Zelos, who had managed to yank himself into a sort of lazy sag of a sitting position, gandered at his half elven compatriot and cuffed him one in the arm.

"Don't worry, short stuff. Lloyd may be trusting to a point of being stupid, but he's not an easy guy to use like a tool." The second grade swordsman said smoothly while his eyes locked on a bird flitting by. "He seems pretty serious on this whole 'save the world, no chosen left behind' schtick. He's not gonna give it up just 'cause Kratos tells him to. The old man may be a sneaky, underhanded bastard, but even he isn't that good."

"That's right." Colette nodded in agreement, putting her hand on Genis' other arm that hadn't been punched. "In the end, Lloyd is still Lloyd, no matter who or what he turns out to be. He'd say the same about all of us." Genis snorted.

"He DID say the same about all of us." He retorted while a smile creeped up on him in spite of himself.

"Yeah that, and you have to remember he doesn't have any leverage against Lloyd anyway." Zelos yawned into the back of his hand. "He doesn't have anything Lloyd wants."

"Do you always think on terms of gain?" Regal shot a disdainful look Zelos' way. Zelos shrugged.

"Hey, desire has proven over the test of time to be a master of persuasion. I'm just tellin' it like it is. He can't just go up to him and say 'Hey, come work for us. Here's a sandwich.' It doesn't work that way." Genis' eyes bore into the lackadaisical church celebrity.

"But Lloyd likes sandwiches-"

"Lloyd's fondness of deli creations aside, I can see what Zelos is driving at." Raine interjected calmly in the hopes she could defuse her brother's latest tirade. "Lloyd doesn't have any inclination to join Cruxis just because he allegedly evolved into an advanced state of existence. That would be similar to suggesting Genis and I would join the Desians merely because we are half elves. We don't anything to worry about, at least not on that level."

"Besides, if anything happens to Lloyd, we'll charge the old man and kick his ass." Sheena added, punching her fist into her other hand. "Simple as that."

"I don't know if it's that simple, but something to that degree." The Professor conceded with a sigh.

"I concur." Regal responded while Presea inclined her head once to show her approval as well, her axe now clean of Desian residue. Genis sniffed, rubbed his nose against his sleeve and smiled a little. Despite what he'd gotten out of it originally, it was clear to him now everyone were only interested in Lloyd's welfare, even if the only path to keep him safe wasn't with them.

It would hurt to not have his best friend around, but at the same time, maybe it was for the best. Besides, they could always talk to each other through those comlink things Zelos passed out a while back anyway. It's not like they would be totally cut off.

"Right." The half pint half elf nodded wearily and forming a fist with his tiny mitt, pumped it in front of his face. "There's no way we're gonna hand over Lloyd without a fight!"

"Who's not handing me over without a what?"

Genis fell off his bucket. Seven thoroughly startled pairs of eyes lurched towards the origin of the question to see a slightly disheveled Lloyd watching them interestedly around the bend with one eyebrow at an angle.

Lloyd looked terrible. Not terrible in the 'got hit with the sharp edge of the ugly shovel' terrible, but 'exhausted to the point of passing out again' type of terrible and it showed. It wasn't just the tired, yet good natured smile he had, nor the circles under his eyes that gave away the fact he was drained as much, but there were several pieces of branches and twigs lodged in his spiky swirls of chestnut hair and for some odd reason, he was wearing what looked like one of Colette's old dresses in place of his shirt. That in itself gave away his fatigue. Lloyd usually fancied himself to be at least moderately manly, and if he was too tired to care he was wandering around in a dress, that was saying something.

"Lloyd! You're awake!" Colette beamed merrily in greeting, successfully snapping the others out of their stunned revelry.

"Hey Bud." Zelos waved a two fingered salute and grinned wryly. "Good to see you livin'. Nice dress."

"It's not a dress." Lloyd countered tersely, yet convincing no one. "Sorry I conked out like that. I think Forcystus must've hit me harder than I thought-" He rubbed the back of his head, but desisted midway when he noticed everyone was staring intently at him like he was about to perform some sort of magic trick. Though, judging from their expressions, it was hard to tell whether it was a party trick or a deadly hex they were expecting.

"What's up with you guys? You all look like someone died-" Lloyd trailed off, his eyes grew wide with apprehension and regarded them all concernedly.

"Did someone die?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Sheena waved her hand back and forth in a flurry while a goofy grin made itself home on her face. "Right guys?"

"Right." Everyone else nodded in unison like synchronized cuckoo clocks. The brown haired boy fell oddly reticent, taken aback by whatever was causing their bizarre behavior and yet finding no answer.

"... alrighty then." Lloyd eyed them all warily and despite his efforts, his eyebrow found it's way back up in a suspicious arc. "What did I miss?"

"Quite a substantial amount of information." The Professor sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"We'd better fill you in." Genis hopped his bucket over so Lloyd could have some room. Lloyd observed him skeptically for a second, but eventually acquiesced and joined his friends in their camper semi circle, his shirt dress flapping from side to side as he crossed his legs in a bow.

"Okay. Feel free to fill me in." The lilliputian leader gestured at them to get started. Patience had never been his strong suit, nor did anyone ever think it would be, alleged angel or no. Shrugging, Zelos flopped an arm over Lloyd's shoulders and let out a shallow breath.

"Strap in Bud, you're in for quite the ride."

* * *

Kratos sighed deeply from where he leaned against the trunk of a withered old tree, his arms folded across his chest as he let his eyes and mind wander. Some times when his responsibilities became too strenuous even for his standards, the age old angel would find himself milling aimlessly around the worlds, trying to clear his head before it exploded from the inside out. No matter how many times he did that over his four thousand year existence, it still amazed him to no end how much it helped. While he wasn't sure of much of anything anymore, there was one thing he knew for certain. Daydreaming was vastly underrated.

His gaze flitted from the birds drifting by in the sky, to the sky itself, to eventually the foliage of the tree he stood underneath. While the foliage was still green due to the time of year, the scratches alone on the branches and the girth of the trunk told the tree had seen its fair share in its lifetime.

The tree reflected years of wear and tear, pieces of its bark missing and initials carved into its hull, some having been scratched out several times to incorporate other names from a wanton fancy gone awry. Still, it maintained its staunchy stance and weathered on through the good and the bad, never wavering. In a way, it was much like himself, except the tree showed its age and didn't hide behind a metabolic canopy from the rest of the world. At times like this, as he stopped his pace to watch the world in its own much faster cadence, the seraph wished he could just resume aging and get the process over with. It was extremely tempting to rejoin the human race in its mad dash through life, but in the end most of what they desired to accomplish was not viable within such a brief moment of existence. There just wasn't enough time to do everything people desired. Dreams, wishes and 'what ifs' had to be put on hold for the swift decent of darkness known as death and then whatever held after.

Instead they passed their dreams onto another and then another until it was even blurred as to who had originally dreamed the dream in the first place.

It may have been grim, thinking like that, but oh, how he envied them. What a paradise that would be to have a normal life, with a normal family and a normal livelihood. One in which he could simply live his life and then in the end succumb to mortality like the rest of his race. Normal.

However, Kratos was not normal, nor had he ever been, or would he ever be. He was a seraphim of Cruxis, one of the four heroes responsible for the bisection of the world and far older than he cared to admit. No, he did not get a normal life. At this point, it was fair to say he didn't deserve one. After all he'd done in the employ of Cruxis, what had befallen his wife and all after, this was only fitting he pay with all he had. No, he didn't deserve a normal life.

Lloyd did, though. That much was certain. He was a good boy on all accounts, with a few hard headed features, but overall he was a decent person, and a passionate advocate for his friends and anyone else. Kratos couldn't have been more proud of his boy, but his spirit sank when he saw one of his deepest fears come to fruition right before his eyes, what he had inadvertently sentenced his own son to bear.

There was no mistaking what that eruption from the boy's slender shoulder blades had been, though they had no rhyme or reason and instead looked like he had blown on a dandelion. He knew feathers when he saw them and after enough years in Cruxis, it wasn't exactly hard. Lloyd was turning into an angelic being and fast. It would only be a matter of time before the wings came in properly and he started displaying traits that even Kratos found hard to conceal.

And he knew who held responsibility for that as well. The exsphere might've been the cannon fodder, but he knew who'd supplied the proper cannon. Ah, something else to add to the list of reasons why he disliked himself. Joy.

Kratos rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He could wallow later. Lloyd was more important than his own dark thoughts. If only his thoughts would help him figure out what he was to do now. The boy was now in more danger then ever before if Cruxis suspected Lloyd's condition, which the red headed seraph was suspicious they did, of both being younger AND more evolved, and he could not let that happen. He would not.

Still, as he thought from under his tree, how was he to go about doing that? Lloyd needed shielding from whatever would be coming after him, Kratos would have been foolhardy to think otherwise, and his friends wouldn't have a chance. They meant well, but the boy would have better protection from a gaggle of yipping chihuahuas.

Taking Lloyd with him flaunted into his mind, but he quickly shoved it away. It was completely out of the question. He had many different items he had to procure and given his track record, his friends would latch onto his arm and play 'tug o' Lloyd' until they won, or ripped his arm off, whichever came first. On the other hand, he would be able to keep a close eye on the boy's development and handle any problems with the angelic transformation when they arose. In that way it would actually be quite prudent because if Lloyd accidentally blew up a building thanks to abilities yet unknown, that would be a surefire confirmation Yggdrasill would find out.

But in the end, Kratos just shook his head. No, it couldn't be. He had to take care of details for Lloyd and Lloyd would surely want to dive off in yet another adventure to save the Chosen of her begotten illness, because that was the type of person Lloyd was. He wouldn't see what Kratos was doing was more for his welfare and would instead become convinced he was being penned up. The seraph immediately reminded himself of that spell laced contract and scowled. He knew that the spell had been in place for security measures, but if he'd known for one second just how powerful that spell had been, he'd have sliced the damn thing in two. He'd almost gotten Lloyd killed, and if he had not been there fast enough, Lloyd would have been. He mused pulling out that contract and destroying it right where he stood, but he had no way of burning the remnants without risking starting a forest fire and that wouldn't be the best way to endear himself to the townspeople.

Kratos felt helpless. If he couldn't leave Lloyd with his friends and taking the boy along was not in the cards, then what was there? He supposed he could go back to spying on them from afar, but if they were attacked, how was he going to rescue them from certain doom and keep his cover? Say he was in the area and heard a commotion? Right, like they would believe that twice.

Joining up with them wasn't an option either. He would be outed as a traitor the moment wind got back to Yggdrasill and then what good would he be to them as an informant? Besides, there was far too much bad blood between the rest of them and himself, so they would never accept his offer, not that he blamed them. Leaving them to die in a tower didn't endear himself to anyone either.

All things considered, it looked like a three way street ending in the same dead end. There didn't look like any other path to take, but he couldn't just leave Lloyd alone on his own, now could he?

Could he?

No, no he couldn't. Definitely not. He'd find a way, he just needed to be more creative-

_SNAP_

Kratos' head jerked out of his grim thoughts and, scanning the area towards the source of the crack, instantly knew his time for brainstorming had been axed.

Yuan had arrived.

"Nice of you to finally join me." The seraphim swordmaster let his gaze linger momentarily at his newfound companion, taking in the ill tempered scowl and the various debris scattered about his cloak. "What kept you?"

"I got here as fast as I could. You'd be amazed that some of us actually have obligations to attend to before we can rush off to play." The half elven renegade commander scoffed sardonically while he remove a stray leaf from his cape and discarded it with a flick. "So what was so urgent that you demanded my presence? Did something new emerge just in time for you to rub my nose in it?"

Ah, Yuan was still coddling his besmirched pride. Kratos rolled his eyes. How typical. Well, at least something had survived the test of time.

"There has been some developments." The redheaded swordsman removed himself from leaning on the tree and faced his old companion, arms folded against his chest. Yuan eyed him suspiciously.

"Oh?"

"Yes. As per our agreement on my silence over your activities, I have another request of you."

"What might that be?"

"I need any and all information Yggdrasill sent you in regards to Lloyd."

The blue haired rebel leader stared at him like he had proposed skydiving off the Tower of Salvation, not that Kratos was surprised. Everyone of considerable rank inside Cruxis had their own separate feed directly into the main core system, and were given authorization to certain areas, depending on said rank. As Kratos was one of the highest officials inside Cruxis, there was very little he did not have authorization to access. And if Kratos, who they both knew was favored more by Yggdrasill, did not have access, what chance was there that Yuan would?

"Why didn't you just look it up yourself?" Yuan suggested airily. Kratos snorted.

"I attempted to do so, but was met with nothing of use. All that was there were old data and nothing remotely helpful."

"Then what do you expect me to do?"

"I need you to hack into the database and search for anything that has his name in it."

Yuan hurled a glare at Kratos that was so flat, it made the plains of Luin look hilly.

"You know they have a five level encryption on that database." He pointed out irritatedly. "It would take me months to get inside undetected. How about something that won't get me caught?" At this point, Kratos deeply believed that for all Yuan had done lately, he should get caught for at least something, regardless of how minimal, but he had to shove his personal opinions aside for the time being. Instead, the spiky haired seraph reached into the wingpack he kept on his belt, retrieved his database accessor and thrust it into Yuan's hands.

"Check your memos." He instructed Yuan while he folded his arms against his chest again and began to wait. The blue haired renegade studied the accessor, then back at Kratos and glared.

"I did check them, thank you and there wasn't anything of interest." Yuan responded defensively, but nonetheless opened the accessor and pushed the 'on' button. Kratos had to fight to hold in another exasperated sigh. For someone who normally could remember obscure details at the drop of a hat, Yuan had a horrible habit of forgetting to check his announcement list from Cruxis. Perhaps it was induced forgetfulness from his apparent apathy towards what Mithos thought, which had only dwindled considerably from when they'd first met. That itself was something Kratos couldn't barely even begin to fathom as it had started out as a grand total of negative seventeen. So it was either that, or old age was finally beginning to catch up to the half elven seraphim.

Kratos laughed bitterly under his breath. No, it was definitely the 'lack of caring'.

"You never think there is anything of interest." He pointed out loftily, only earning him another emerald scowl.

"Fine, but I don't see what good it will do..." Yuan relented, but his attitude immediately changed when a flashing envelope pinged in on the side of the screen.

"Oh. There IS something new." The half elf commander blinked nonplussed. When a dejected groan caught his ear, Yuan peered up from the screen and instantly got defensive again.

"... what?"

"Back before when I said you didn't read the memos, I meant it." Kratos murmured dejectedly while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Check them more."

"I would check them, but who in their right mind would ever want to read a rant written by a demented man-boy about how he's not getting his way?" Yuan countered coolly, diverting his attention back to the accessor pad. "I could get that by visiting a preschool. Aha, here we are." The screen took its merry time loading the announcement page, since Yuan had quite the inbox of unread materials, but eventually the latest installment filled the page and he leaned in so he could see. Kratos rolled his eyes again. He'd long since relented to wearing reading glasses, even if his body had not aged a day past twenty eight, but some people refused to wear them for fear of 'looking old'.

Some people indeed.

"... oh." Yuan leaned back from the screen and blinked, at a loss for words. Kratos' eyes narrowed.

'Oh' was never good.

"'Oh'? 'Oh' what?" The auburn haired angel pressed.

"Apparently there was a memo sent out to everyone of elevated status on an encrypted mailing system." His half elven counterpart replied as he read aloud while rubbing his chin. "It says that all of the work in the ranches and just about everything else were to be halted immediately and all resources directed towards locating and capturing wanted criminal, #0074, preferably alive."

"And does it say specifically to who that is?"

"I believe I can confirm the identity if I cross reference it with the fugitive database." With a flash of the keys, another window popped out of nowhere and quickly filled itself with the criminal ID number. Two seconds later, Yuan sighed tiredly and turned towards Kratos, who at that point had taken to reading over his shoulder like a spiky, agitated red parrot.

"It's him." Yuan reported, though Kratos already knew. How could he not know? Lloyd's picture was right there next to the number.

"The last bit of this message is in a deeper encryption, but it looks like it says not to let anyone else know about this mission, highly classified. Probably that 'anyone else' is you." The turncoat seraph continued, snapping the accessor closed. "I'm guessing Yggdrasill found out about his size and decided to get rid of him now that he has the upper hand. It was only a matter of time, after all. The boy's too big a threat to just be left alone."

The twinging pain in Kratos' stomach suddenly turned into a violent lurch. His fear was confirmed. Yggdrasill had somehow found out about Lloyd's predicament and decided to capitalize on it. The seraph clenched his hand into a fist so tight, it threatened to bleed. It figured that at the first opportunity he saw, Yggdrasill would send his entire organization after the leader of the only group of people able to stand against him, who had been reduced to the size of a school boy. What a coward his former apprentice had become, preying on beings who could not effectively defend themselves.

... but... wasn't that what he had been doing the entire time? Destroying millions upon millions of innocent lives, purely for his own twisted agenda? Hadn't that been what he, Kratos, had allowed to come to pass thousands of times over, never stopping to see Mithos for what he really was, not for what he had been? He hadn't wanted to see, so he simply hadn't. He'd been so foolish. And now... now it was Lloyd's turn to suffer Yggdrasill's wrath.

The idea of Yggdrasill getting his hands on Lloyd made his stomach turn and his blood run cold. Surely he would not let the boy live, not with such a glistening opportunity at his fingertips. No, he would kill him and slowly too, to make sure that no one ever opposed him again. Kratos knew all too well Yggdrasill showed no mercy, regardless of age or rank. They all met the same gruesome fate, particularly if he was in a creative mood. Yggdrasill never discriminated against people of a rebellious disposition. Never.

This was all his fault. If he'd stopped Mithos in the beginning, if he'd intervened, none of this would have happened. He'd allowed this monster to come to life. It had been him.

In some ways, perhaps he was even worse.

Kratos snapped himself out of the deeper recesses of his mind and scowled. Maybe Yggdrasill had found out, maybe that had been what he was doing all along, maybe that was the case. Regardless, that no longer mattered. Not now.

Lloyd was in mortal peril and that was all that mattered.

"So, besides that, what else happened?" Yuan inquired lightly, the stillness having whittled away his petulant attitude. Blinking, Kratos remembered he was not alone and glimpsed Yuan momentarily before retreating back into his mind.

"Wing mana erupted out of Lloyd's scapula just after the tree was destroyed by the mana cannon." He replied dully, still lingering on how to deal with Yggdrasill's exposed agenda. Yuan gaped at him. It was obvious that out of all the answers he'd been expecting, that hadn't been on the list.

"Just how did he manage to do that?" The cerulean haired half elf asked incredulously. "I did not know he was in possession of a cruxis... ah, of course." The cogs in Yuan's mind had apparently come full circle, and he folded his arms against his chest, head bowed slightly.

"The exsphere. So the Angelus project was a success then."

"So it would seem." Kratos responded flatly while watching a cloud go by. Usually watching the sky quieted his mind. Not now.

"That makes a viable amount of sense then. Coupled with the sphere and certain _genetic_ traits, it's not much of a stretch." The half elf reckoned while sending Kratos a few pointed glances. "Why did it choose to react now? Did it complete itself?"

"I believe all of the stress, injuries, and near death experiences must have sent his exsphere into a quickened pace, which then spread over his now much more compact frame. That's the only way I can think to describe it." The stoic seraphim explained, feeling his shoulders become heavier just by verbalizing his assumptions. "As for whether or not it has completed itself, the wings themselves were not in a full winged form, but the exsphere has entered the final stages, so that will happen at its own time."

"Hm. Just like a chosen, except he didn't receive the 'aide of the angels' like they do. Almost being crushed by a tower was probably enough to send him reeling over the edge." Yuan let his arms fall to his sides and looked from side to side, taking in the surrounding trees and botanical accents like he was searching for something.

"Where is your progeny anyway?"

"At the Chosen's house. He was too ill to be left on his own, so I left him in their care temporarily until he regains consciousness."

"Ah."

"Also, there is something of a problem regarding the Chosen." Kratos added, fatigue evident in his voice. He knew the Chosen probably wanted to keep this a secret, but since this did coincide with Cruxis matters and Yuan was technically still a part of Cruxis, though not in spirit, he needed to know. Kratos wasn't entirely sure he should be the one divulging the information, but chances were good he would find out about it anyway and it would be better coming from someone who wasn't hysterical and/or screeching shrilly.

Yuan's eyebrow elevated.

"What might that be?"

Kratos exhaled and met Yuan's inquisitive gaze.

"She's suffering from Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium."

As if by switch, Yuan's normally cool and collected shield deteriorated and he staggered back a step, the other eyebrow having joined the first and his face stark white. Kratos wasn't surprised. That was the precise infection that had afflicted Martel's body after she'd equipped the key crest to her cruxis crystal and even back then, the condition was virtually unheard of. And after all they'd done and gone searching for a cure, one would remember these things, no matter how deep those memories had been buried.

"How can you be sure?" Yuan pressed soberly, emerald locked on garnet.

"It looked exactly the same, only the scaling has spread farther than Martel's because of the Chosen's smaller body."

They maintained their scrutinizing stare before Yuan broke it off to look at a patch of grass off to the side. Noting there was a flat rock not too far away, he walked over and sat on it, his cape pooling over the sides, laced his fingers in front of his face in a pensive expression and gazed into space.

It was right then Kratos realized how old Yuan really looked. Not in body or even in face per say, but in the general aura that clung to him and the expression behind his youthful facade. Like he'd been stretched far too thin far too long and it was starting to rip him apart. He briefly wondered if he too looked that, far too world weary and exhausted for his face, but shook his head bitterly and turned his eyes away.

Of course he looked like that. Hell, it was probably much worse.

"What course of action do you propose then?" Yuan asked numbly while he pulled a hand free and ran it through his bangs.

"Colette's family asked me to escort her to Dirk's house in order to make a diagnosis. However, chances are high he will not be able to tell them anything of significance. He was probably a part of the faction that chose to not join Cruxis for the exchange of skills for freedom. As for what Lloyd and his friends plan to do, I do not know. Most likely they will attempt something, but the details are unknown as of yet."

"I see." Yuan frowned at a rock on the ground. "... are we going to do something about this?"

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"... Mithos is probably already in a fouler than usual mood about the Chosen's current juvenile state. If he becomes aware the Chosen is also afflicted with that disease, the consequences will be dire." The cerulean seraph explained coolly as he removed himself from his seat on the rock and straightened up.

Ah, how could he have forgotten about that? Mithos' reaction to the vessel for his sister being a kindergardener. Kratos resisted the urge to groan for the umpteenth time. If everything already hadn't been piled high on his plate, one more thing could surely clamor on. He could take it.

He might go insane, but he could take it.

"That much is obvious." The spiky seraphim responded flatly. "Still, perhaps some interference isn't that bad a notion. If the Chosen dies, Mithos really will have a grand fit."

"Mm." Yuan nodded once and surveyed the direction of Colette's back porch, which could be seen through the leafy canopies of the draping trees, though only just. "Shall we go see if your offspring has rejoined the realm of the living? Surely he's woken by now."

Kratos snorted.

'You obviously have never seen that boy sleep.' He thought tersely, but didn't voice it, opting for instead stiffly agreeing and heading towards the village, the younger of the two antiquated angels right behind him. Contented with their own thoughts, the pair of angels silently trekked out of the glade of trees behind the Chosen's residence, crossed around the side of the house past a thoroughly trampled rosebush and walked inside. The Chosen's grandmother and father didn't even react as Kratos strode by, not even sparing any glances towards his new companion. By this point, it was safe to say they'd ceased asking questions for fear of finding answers.

The stairwell had done little to stop their fervent pace and before anyone knew it, they both stood at the landing of the second floor. Kratos made quick work of the lock mechanism, flipping it to the unlocked position, grasped the handle and pushed. He'd hoped to see Lloyd still asleep in bed, perhaps rummaging around in some drawers or even knocked back on the floor because he'd been listening through the door.

His hopes were dashed on the rocks of reality.

What met his eyes instead was a room with a rumpled bed, a window ajar and a complete lack of Lloyd.

Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose and prayed that pressure in the front of his head was just a fluctuation in mana levels and not an incoming migraine. Though, for some odd reason, he doubted it was a spike in mana.

While Kratos determined whether or not he was going to have another headache, Yuan nudged him to the side and looked around his shoulder. He observed the vacant room for any signs of movement, and after he was met with none, glanced out of the side of his eye at Kratos.

"Seems you've lost something."

"... I could have sworn I locked that window."

* * *

"And that's the situation as it stands now." The Professor sat back on her heels. The others had adopted a similar position and were all sitting next to her in a line facing the recipient of the briefing. They'd expected Lloyd to shout, to protest, to even outright refute their story with all his being, but he just sat still as a board, processing the outlandish, but completely accurate tale.

"... Lloyd?" Colette leaned forward on her hands and tilted her head to the side. "Are you okay?" Lloyd didn't reply immediately, nor did he make signs he heard her. Instead, he stared off into space for a while, took in a breath and nodded.

"I think so." He replied stonily. "It's just... really hard to believe."

"You do believe us, right?" Sheena asked expectantly. "You know we wouldn't make this kinda stuff up."

"Yeah. I know." Lloyd nodded again, his face still radiating shock. "That's why it's making it all the harder to believe. I know you guys don't make up stories like this, so I have to." Awkward muteness descended over the gaggle of school children, only making the situation more uncomfortable, which was a feat all by itself.

"Lloyd, do you need some alone time?" Genis inquired concernedly. Lloyd shook his head.

"No, I'll be okay. Just as soon as the shock wears off, I think I can deal with it." He responded dully, which, judging by the shared expressions on his friends' faces, didn't quell their worry.

"Lloyd, remember you're still you, okay?" Colette reached over and patted his shoulder, which Lloyd didn't yank away. "We're still your friends no matter what."

"Yeah, you didn't care that we were half elves. I won't care one bit that you're an angel or whatever." Genis added, getting off his pail and plopping down next to the brunette boy.

"I'm in too." Sheena angled her fist at her chest and puffed it out.

"Yeah, you're alright." Zelos flipped a spare piece of hair out of his face and grinned wolfishly at Lloyd.

"We're all in agreement then." Regal surmised while the Professor and Presea nodded to each other. Lloyd smiled. Well, he might not know what to make of what they just told him about his new self, but at least he still had his friends to back him up. Sure he knew he'd do the same for them in a heartbeat, but it was fantastic to know they'd cross that same street for him.

It felt good.

"Thanks, guys." He said warmly, his mood having improved somewhat. "But you don't need to worry. I'm still me, no matter what I... seem to have turned out to be. If I said otherwise, I'd just be a huge hypocrite." At that, Colette and Genis beamed at him and he suddenly felt his cheeks grow warm. They must have remembered he'd said the same thing about them. Ack, how embarrassing.

"So, uh... did I have... wings?" He asked, trying to shift the focus of the conversation. "Y'know, like Colette's?"

"Well... kinda." Zelos shrugged as he looked up from where he'd been playing with a silken strand of crimson hair. "It was more like you exploded coconut confetti out of your back, but it coulda been-"

"What he means is it was indeed the same type of mana that Colette as well as the seraphim use when summoning forth wings, however they did not take a corporeal shape." The Professor cut him off and whacked him on the back of the head, consequently making him squall. "So, perhaps at that time the angelic transformation had not been fully established. It could be now, since you are now conscious, but that is merely sophistry."

Urgh, too many big words. Lloyd groaned and brushed the rogue strand out from in front of his eyes. Apparently the angelic transformation hadn't affected his vocabulary much if at all, and that was something he'd have liked to have improved in a way that didn't involve a dictionary. It was strange, since Kratos and Yuan both used a lot of fancy words and the like, and yet here he was trying to pick apart what the Professor had just explained.

Maybe that came later.

"Oh.. uh, okay." The slender swordsman grinned sheepishly while one hand subconsciously reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "Any idea how to get them out here then?"

All eyes flew to the only angel who'd successfully flown, who consequently jumped and squeaked in surprised at being put on the spotlight so fast without warning again.

"Uh, I don't really know." Colette shrugged while twiddling her thumbs. "They just sort of come out when I want them to. I never really thought about how."

Aha, so there was thinking involved. Lloyd's eyebrows furrowed and he lowered his chin into his hand. If all he had to do was think about having wings out and wanting them to show up, he'd give it a shot. Why not, he had nothing to lose anyway.

'Okay, here goes nothing.' Lloyd straightened up where he sat, clamped his eyes shut and thought about wings. Any and all sorts of wings flooded his minds eye, from Colette's to Kratos' to Yuan's to the pictures of the angels in the school text books to even that old bird lady's bird scrapbook. Lloyd shook his head. He didn't want to remember that. From the bird album came a variety of other birds, from blue bird wings to goose wings, to duck wings, to chicken wings...

Hm... chicken wings.

Lloyd groaned. So did his stomach.

After five minutes of thinking about wings, he cracked open one eyelid and peered over his shoulder. No wings. Sighing, Lloyd frowned into his palm and grumbled. So much for that. All that had been was a colossal waste of time and now he was hungry. Damn it.

There must be more to this 'angel' stuff than he initially thought. Was there a dance or something he had to learn or maybe a code? What was he doing wrong? Was it the chicken wings?

"Keep working at it, Lloyd. I'm sure you'll get there eventually." Sheena encouraged cheerily, her puff frilling out because of the slight humidity in the air. "And then you'll be able to use all those neat techniques that the others can. Like Judgment."

Now THAT was an idea. He'd be able to use judgment? A malevolent grin sneakily inched its way onto Lloyd's face. If he'd be able to get his hands on that technique and better yet, used it while fighting Yggdrasill, just think of the possibilities.

Yggdrasill'd need a new jumpsuit, that's for sure.

"-oyd you want to get some food?" A voice broke Lloyd out of his cunning plan and he peeked up groggily.

"Wha?"

"Do you want to get some food?" Genis asked again, his hand outstretched. "Your stomach was yelling at you." Food did sound good. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually eaten, it was probably around yesterday morning maybe, and even then he'd given away his cracker. Yep, food was sounding better by the minute.

"Uh, okay." Lloyd nodded and latched onto Genis' hand. It was a good thing Lloyd had been particularly skinny as a kid or Genis would have toppled over from the sheer force alone. Still, he managed to eventually get himself back standing, and the eight trotted past the main courtyard through the back where the school was located. If Lloyd remembered correctly, there was an apple tree just outside the school's window and where there was an apple tree, there were apples.

The air was reasonably quiet as they walked, but the closer the school came, voices shouting disrupted the tranquility and sent it into chaos.

"What's with all the yelling?" Zelos grumbled, "Somebody tryin' to wake the dead?"

"From the way they're screaming, you'd think so." Sheena sniffed disdainfully. "What the hell's going on?"

"It's coming from the school, I think." Genis replied, craning his neck around Presea's arm.

"We'll be right there." The slight summoner folded her arms against her red jacket. "Let's just shut up whoever's making all that ruckus while we're there and be done with it."

"Fat chance of that happening." Genis responded, a newfound scowl spread across his face. "Guess who's making all that noise."

"Who?" Colette asked.

Lloyd didn't need to guess. He knew that pompous, 'holier than thou voice' anywhere and the last time he'd heard it, he'd been thrown out of the only home he'd ever known.

"-it's all their fault!" The mayor of Iselia shrilly barked at the congregation of villagers gathered around the school entrance. "How could you allow them to return, especially after they were banished?"

"The people from the ranch needed aid, we couldn't push them away-" One of the villagers began meekly.

"And so you would place the entire village at stake? Have you no sense at all?" The mayor demanded, causing the villager to sink back into the safety of the crowd.

"The Chosen failed her journey and now we shall perish before the mercy of the Desians!" He shrieked, waving his hands up and down like windsocks. "It's the end of the world!"

"Some things never change, I guess." Raine shook her head exasperatedly.

"You'd think he'd have run out of wind by now." Genis added.

The mayor must have heard the half elf sibling's comments, because his beady eyes honed in the group of brats and he practically looked like he would start foaming at the mouth at any moment.

"You! This is all your fault!" He bellowed. "Lloyd Irving, you are to blame for all of this!" The crowd parted like a rip tide and everyone's eyes fixed on the newcomers, albeit most of them probably disbelieving that the skinny brown haired kid could ever be Lloyd. Lloyd didn't back down, nor did he care anyone what they thought. He'd had enough of this.

"Mayor, that can't be Lloyd. Lloyd is much older and-"

"I heard from a villager who'd overheard Phaidra. He may look younger, but that is without a doubt Lloyd Irving. He looks exactly as he did at the age of six, as you will all remember. You see, this must be the fate of those who interfere with the success of the Journey of World Regeneration!" The Mayor explained with a smug smirk perched underneath his grotesque mustache. "Lloyd Irving, how dare you return to this village from which you have been banished without permission?"

Lloyd didn't reply. He refused to answer such a question, especially from the likes of this ultimate waste of mana.

Besides, he had someone to do that for him.

"Lloyd didn't know he was coming here, you moron!" Genis shot back heatedly, his beet red face highlighted by his silver hair. "He was unconscious when we brought him here. And, even if he did know, he wouldn't have let something like a banishment keep him from helping the people at the ranch!"

"Silence, half elf!" The mayor barked, "Your opinion has no merit here! No one cares what you think! You two are probably the ones who led that filthy Desian attack on this village in the first place!"

Genis recoiled like he'd been slapped. In shock, he took a step back and accidentally bumped into Lloyd's chest, but Lloyd didn't seem to notice.

He was far too incensed to notice.

"_I_ sure as hell do!" Lloyd lashed out, utterly enraged. "Now look, you sorry excuse for a sausage! Genis and the Professor may be half elves, but that doesn't matter! They're good people and that's more than I'll ever be able to say about you!"

"And what would you ever know about who is good or not?" The mayor mockingly scorned. "You were raised by a dwarf and no one listens to snot nosed brats anyway. You don't know anything."

"We may be kids, but I do know one thing." Zelos flicked a lock of scarlet hair out of his face and disgustedly looked at the overweight oaf. "You're a supreme schmuck."

"Wha-what?" The mayor sputtered.

"He's right!" A voice from the crowd piped up. Lloyd, along with everyone else's, swiveled around to see Chocolat emerge, looking just as, if not more, irate.

"From what I've seen, all you do is complain and bitterly attack anyone who you see fit! Besides your vocal chords, you don't do a damn thing!" She berated hotly. "If that's all you're good for, kindly do what the rest of you is doing and shut the hell up!"

"No one is perfect. Yet you assail those of different births and backgrounds which they cannot control, treating them like defective garbage." Presea narrowed her eyes from underneath her beret and hoisted her axe at the Mayor. "In the end, it is you who is defective."

"I- I have a duty to protect the village from those who would harm it!" The mayor backpedaled. "Like Lloyd, the Desians and half elves!"

"There aren't any more Desians in this region, you great idiot!" Sheena punched a fist into the air, her puff practically standing on end. "Forcystus kicked the bucket seven hours ago! You can't go around using that schlock as a barrier for being a discriminating asshole anymore!"

The mayor was speechless. No one had ever stood up to him like this before. From Lloyd's memory, every single time he went on a tirade like this, the villagers would cow to his every whim and let him have his way. That's why he was mayor in the first place.

"W-well, say something!" He demanded of the crowd, but the crowd stayed mute.

"Genis, the Professor and Lloyd are all really nice and helped us whenever we asked for it." One of the girls, who looked to be no older than Lloyd's age now, took a step forward. "Colette wasn't around as much, 'cause of all that stuff in the church and all, but she was always really nice and funny when she was around."

"All you do is be mean and complain." Another boy with blue hair added, thrusting a knobby finger at the mayor. "You don't do anything helpful at all."

"Why are you mayor when you don't do anything?" A third boy called out from the side. The mayor's face gleamed bright red.

"You brats, get lost!" He roared. "This doesn't concern you!"

"Just 'cause they're littler than you doesn't make them wrong!" Chocolat refuted. "Just who are you pretending to be? And it's not just you! Everyone pushed the responsibility of saving the world onto Colette's and Lloyd's and everyone's shoulders, but nobody did anything to help! You don't have the right to complain if you don't do anything to help!"

A twitter of guilty murmurs fell over the crowd. They knew who she meant and what hurt more was that in the depths of their consciences, they knew she was right.

The mayor, meanwhile, wasn't accepting delivery. In fact, he'd have rather changed addresses than do so.

"B-but the Desians are too much and we are powerless-"

"Perhaps, but meandering aimlessly about in circles pronouncing the end of the world does little to help any situation. Besides, the ranch northeast of this village is no longer operational and any remaining Desians have scattered. You cannot hide behind that feeble excuse any longer."

Lloyd blinked and spun on his heel like he was mounted on a ball roller. Standing about two meters away was Kratos and, while Lloyd wasn't sure whether it was directed at his little disappearance or the ignorant proclamations of the mayor, he didn't look very happy.

"You, you're that mercenary that was hired to protect the Chosen!" The mayor rebuffed thickly, the deep stare emanating from the faux mercenary taking some of his nerve. "How dare you lecture me? You're just a sell sword who takes things for money!"

"Anything, regardless of how small and insignificant it may seem or what motivation there may be, may in the end mean the difference between success and failure." The stoic seraphim narrowed his burgundy eyes at the mayor, sending a chill up everyone's spine who'd dared to meet his gaze. "No matter what the contribution, effort is essential to vanquish adversity. Hoping someone else will accomplish the matter while turning a blind eye in the end... does nothing."

"While what you say about me may be true, in the end, I have done more than you ever thought about doing." The hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightened threateningly. "Can you really say otherwise about your own hide? I have seen enough evidence to know the only time you lift a finger is to point at whomever you are blaming for your own folly, be it the Chosen, Lloyd or any of his companions."

"You have no authority to speak."

Another wave of murmurs echoed through the ranks of the villagers, more positive and forceful than before. Lloyd's heart danced around his lungs. The villagers were actually standing up against the mayor, something he wasn't sure he would ever see in his lifetime. For a moment there he was worried they'd gang up on them like they had last time, but thanks to Kratos stepping in at the last minute, the tides had turned once again. Yep, now he HAD to get Kratos on his side, after he cut the mayor down to size like that.

"We won't be able to do much, but we will do everything we can to aid the Chosen and her friends whenever we are able to do so, half elf or not." A rather weedy looking young man followed up the murmurs. "As a village, it's our duty to help those in need, like the people from the ranch, and if you don't like it, you can stick it in your ear!"

"YEAH!" The crowd roared.

"Are.. are you sure?" Genis stared at the weatherworn members of the village, barely able to believe what his ears had just relayed. "We're half elves-"

"Half elves or not, you're still a part of this village." One of the gate guards waved his rake at the petite preschooler. "So's Lloyd. That doesn't change. You guys may be off keel, but this is still where you're from."

"Guys-"

"Fine, side with them!" The mayor couldn't take anymore of their idealistic sentiment. The purplish red hue of his face contrasting with his mucky gray hair said that much, but what really tipped off anyone who looked at him was the deranged and desperate expression plastered to his pudgy mug. "Do what you want, but I warn you all, it will end in failure!"

His temper tantrum had, the mayor stomped out of the main courtyard with all the grace of a five year old who was furious on the notion of having to share. No one was particularly sad to see the coot go, and as soon as he was out of sight, the villagers dispersed back into the woodwork of their village, tilling the fields or hanging out their laundry with gusto, satisfied on a mayor well chastised.

"Man, what a ball of sunshine he turned out to be." Sheena snorted in disgust in the direction the mayor had departed. "How'd that old curmudgeon ever get to be mayor?"

"Apparently the dark lord of Niflheim was busy." Raine growled tensely, her cheeks hot with color. "Grotesque toad."

"Um, Lloyd?"

Lloyd felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Chocolat hovering over him, looking not as well as she had in previous encounters. Some of that may have been caused by the time spent dwelling in the ranch, but something seemed to seep out of her like smokey fog, something Lloyd knew all too well.

Guilt.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you back at the ranch." She apologized while absently twirling her ponytail around her finger. "I.. I heard about how nice you were to Grandma and how you did all you could to help her. I didn't even try to hear you out and-"

"It's okay. I can understand why you wouldn't have wanted to hear me out." The pint sized swordsman interrupted. While he would have liked to say otherwise, what she had heard in the end was true. He had been responsible for Marble's death and no amount of sugar coating would change that.

"It still isn't an excuse for how I acted. I was terrible and I should have said thank you. So I will. Thank you. You helped my Grandma and saved me along with everyone else in the ranch. I will never forget it." Chocolat held out her right hand square in front of Lloyd. "Friends?"

Lloyd regarded the hand for maybe a half second before he took it in his own grip and shook it firmly.

"Friends." He nodded smiling, releasing his steady hold and beaming while Chocolat excused herself to tend to some ranch refugees. Lloyd heaved a sigh of relief and brushed some of his hair from his face. It was cleansing in a way to have come to terms with Chocolat about Marble's unfortunate death, something he never thought he would have the chance to do. Yet here he had just reconciled with Chocolat and he hadn't even been the one to instigate the confrontation. She had. He would never forget Marble, not for as long as he continued to breathe, but one of the mighty weights Lloyd had been shouldering for much too long had finally lifted itself from his conscience. It hadn't been much on the grand scale, nor not nearly a reprieve from the brick load of new problems loaded onto his skinny back, but it still felt good.

What didn't feel good was when another hand came to rest on his shoulder and he had the distinct impression he knew to whom it belonged. One glance later, he knew he'd been right.

"Oh, uh, hiya Kratos. How are you?" Lloyd grinned guiltily at the ancient angel, who by all accounts looked less than pleased. The seraphim swordmaster regarded Lloyd for a spare moment, and with a sigh, removed his hand so it could rest on it's proper place at his side.

"What are you doing out and about?" Kratos demanded crossly. Lloyd's eyebrows shot up. Aha, that's what he was angry about. It made enough sense he'd be irritated Lloyd had left without anyone's knowledge, but why did he get the feeling that wasn't what he was mad about?

"Uh..." Lloyd rubbed the back of his head. "Walking, standing, ranting at the mayor, and now I was gonna get a snack-"

"That is not what I meant and you know it." The stoic seraphim refuted humorlessly. "Why did you leave the room at the Chosen's residence?"

"Uh, well, I wanted to go outside."

"Why didn't you simply just _wait_ until someone came to retrieve you?"

"I couldn't wait that long, I had to find my friends." Lloyd gestured to over where his friends had congregated underneath the apple tree. "That and there wasn't anything in there to do and I knew I was going to get bored. So I left."

"No, you picked a lock, broke out of a window AGAIN, and destroyed one of the Brunel's prized rosebushes." Kratos corrected tersely. Lloyd's face grew rosy.

"Hey, I'm the one who landed in it! Don't I get at least get some sympath- wait, how'd you find out about that?"

Kratos gave him a flat look.

"The little girl across the street was most insightful."

"Argh, I told her not to tell anyone-"

"So you admit to destroying the rosebush." Kratos confirmed quietly, a tad amused expression playing on the corners of his features. The brown haired boy blanched and groaned. Smooth.

"I didn't say that-" Lloyd backpedaled, but the archaic angel held up his hand dismissively.

"You didn't need to. You will pay for the damages."

"WHAT?"

"You destroyed it, you pay for it."

"I'm NOT gonna-" He prepared to argue, but the dirty glare courtesy of Kratos punched the fight right out of him, along with his rebuttal.

"... fine. I'll pay for the stupid rosebush." Lloyd huffed through clenched teeth. He knew he probably should pay for the stupid bush, but no one said he had to like it.

"What's goin' on?" A mouth half full with apple asked lazily. Lloyd looked over his shoulder and groaned again. Arms laden with apples, his friends were on the approach and apparently someone, he guessed it to be Sheena, had heard him. She was the only one snacking on an apple, so that helped narrow it down a bit.

Perfect, just great. It was bad enough that he just got his butt handed to him by Kratos via glare, but now his friends were gonna find out. Maybe there was a way out of this. Maybe he could alter the story so it didn't look so bad or at least, HE didn't look bad-

"In his debacle of escaping via the Chosen's window, Lloyd fell on a rosebush, smashed it and must pay for the damages."

Maybe not.

And, just as he'd thought, some of them burst into laughter, others in tired sighs, but all rather amused. However, one person didn't look either amused, nor exasperated.

"Wait, what rosebush?" Colette stepped forward, eyes wide and arms still full of apples.

"The one just outside your window, Chosen." Kratos replied, sparing the miniscule martyr a side glance. Letting out a strangled gasp, Colette pivoted towards Lloyd, barely keeping the bushel of apples in her grasp.

"... you killed my rosebush?" She asked in a hushed squeak. Like he'd been set ablaze, Lloyd was doused with shock and his face flushed in consternation.

"Colette, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was yours!" He stammered, "I'll replace it, I swear!" Colette didn't hear him. She was too occupied staring blankly off into the distance. The revelation of her condition, the tree's perverted incarnation run rampant and now her personal plant project destroyed had taken its toll on the meager minor.

"So, uh, where's Yuan?" Sheena catechized in an attempt to drive the impromptu conversation away from the cliffs of insanity. "He was with you, wasn't he?"

"He departed for his base." Kratos responded stiffly. "Something about retrieving an item." Raine's nose wrinkled.

"What's he getting?"

"I did not ask, nor do I wish to know. Suffice to say, he shall return later."

"What are you doing here then?" Genis investigated, one silver arch lifted.

"I've been sent to retrieve the Chosen in order for her to speak with her family." The archaic angel replied just as stiffly as before. "Afterwards I am to escort her to Dirk's residence for a diagnosis."

"She's not going anywhere without us!" Sheena hooked a thumb at her chest and waved an arm at the others while fiercely staring him down. Kratos raised an eyebrow. He was less than impressed.

"Wait by the front gate, then." He retorted dismissively, gently grasped onto the cherubim chosen's shoulder and began to coax her towards her house. Colette was still in a dead rosebush induced haze, so steering her back towards her residence wasn't too difficult. It was more the steering that seemed the tricky part.

"Colette, I'll get you a new rosebush, I promise!" Lloyd shouted after them, but neither acknowledged his cry. It wasn't until they were both around the bend that led to Colette's house did he pinch the bridge of his nose and wish he was still asleep.

Kratos said a long time ago wishing didn't do any good, but to hell with Kratos right then. He was going to wish, and wish was what he did. He wished he'd eaten something, he wished he'd waited, he wished he hadn't fallen on that stupid plant, he wished he'd _known_ about that stupid plant...

He stayed there wishing until an arm wrapped around his shoulders and yanked him into a half hug, almost taking him off his feet.

"Sorry to interrupt your lamenting, Rosebush Killer, but I gotta know something." Zelos grinned while he waggled his index finger in front of Lloyd's nose. "What's with the dress? I'm not saying the look doesn't work on you, but my curiosity is getting to me."

Lloyd's eye twitched. His lack of energy and food coupled with the ignorance of the mayor and the rosebush murder had made him very, VERY ill-tempered and Zelos was poking the proverbial lion with the stick.

"I told you it's not a dress and I'm not a rosebush killer." The slender swordsman muttered venomously while daggers shot from his fixated glare into Zelos' arm.

"Tell that to Miss Angel, and it looks like one to me. It's awful pretty on you." The compact casanova continued airily, completely clueless to the danger he was in. "Brings out the color in your eyes."

"Shut up!"

"All you need is a rose in your hair, or maybe a rosebush under your- "

Lloyd beaned Zelos in the head with an apple.

* * *

It took some work, but after explaining the situation to the Brunel's and assuring them all that Lloyd would provide monetary compensation should the bush not recover, Colette emerged from her melancholic state to the cheery disposition she normally portrayed. Phaidra and Frank were so happy to see her in such a bright mood that an immediate family moment cropped up out of the woodwork, which Kratos discreetly excused himself from witnessing. So he opted to stand at the gate of the Chosen's residence, admiring the plant life and cringing ever so slightly whenever his eyes passed over the rose bush Lloyd had slain. Lloyd really needed to work on his landings.

'What's keeping her?' The seraphim's eyebrows furrowed as he watched the door do everything except not move. It had been the good part of half an hour since he'd retreated from their midst, and yet no one had exited the premises. On one hand, he could understand why the Chosen's family were all pleased she had returned, even if the circumstances were less than favorable, but on the other, he did have a schedule to keep and it was tight enough as it was.

Kratos' grousing ceased, however, when the sound of a door creaking open caught his ear. The Chosen must have finally finished speaking with her family. That, or she was going over to hold a funeral for her plant. Kratos sighed. Well, either way at least progress was being made.

Thankfully fate was working in his favor for once, because instead of detouring into the garden, the Chosen trotted down the path to her house and halted by the front gate next to his flank.

"Are you ready to depart?" He inquired, his left hand having floated down to its proper place on the hilt of his sword.

"Yes, I'm ready." Colette nodded once. Kratos acknowledged her and let her gain a few strides ahead. Despite her head start, it didn't take him long to cover the ground between them, as three of her strides were equal to one of his. The seraphim swordmaster, having noticed this, slowed down his pace enough so Colette wouldn't be forced to sprint in order to keep up.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" The cherub of a Chosen chirped merrily while keeping in step, her hair flouncing back and forth against her shoulders.

"Yes, it is." Kratos nodded curtly as he briefly glanced up at the sky. The sun was shining brightly, the sky itself was a brilliant shade of blue and neither let onto the fact the world had almost been swallowed up by a killer tree hours before. Nature was quite deceiving that way.

"I'm glad I can see today." Colette mused to the clouds in a more subdued voice, but not so subdued Kratos missed her comment. The angelic lord shifted his eyes towards his young companion and prompted her with one strategically positioned eyebrow.

"I never thought I'd be alive to see this day." The Chosen of Sylvarant continued distantly as she swayed while walking. "I always thought I'd have given up my life by now, but thanks to everyone, that wasn't what came to pass. So, while I may be on borrowed time, I'm happy that I'm able to see what a beautiful day today turned out to be." She then swished her dress's hem back and forth and began to play with the folds in between her fingers.

Kratos' eyebrows furrowed. With all the stress thrust upon everyone in such a short expanse of time, not to mention her condition being exposed to everyone, she must have exhausted herself to the point of delirium. That was probably why she was spouting random thoughts aloud. If even he could feel the pressure looming overhead despite his centuries of living, what havoc was it wreaking on her system? The seraphim snorted. 'Not good' would probably be an understatement. At times like these, he always found some uninterrupted silence did wonders in settling ones stormy, internal thoughts so the next move would present itself.

Perhaps some solitude would do her some good.

"Mister Kratos, can I ask you something?"

Apparently she thought otherwise.

"What is it, Chosen?" He responded, russet eyes fixed on the tiny form of the Chosen who waited for him at the bend. She twiddled her fingers as he gained the ground betwixt them and tried to meet his strides, but ended up in a sort of half skip, half canter. Kratos raised an eyebrow as he observed her in silence. She must've been fighting with herself over how to speak her mind, something he knew all too well in spite of himself.

"Do you think... this is happening because of my own selfishness?" Colette finally blurted out. Kratos stopped walking and stared at her as stoically as he could muster. She couldn't be serious. Out of all the people in the world, both worlds in fact, she perceived herself as selfish?

If she was selfish, what was he or Yggdrasill, or everyone else EVER?

"I-I mean, I didn't complete the journey, and I know we're trying to find another way to save the world, but what if this is sort of a punishment for failing?" Colette tripped over her words, "I failed my duties as a Chosen and this is all my fault-"

"Don't be ridiculous." Kratos interjected candidly. "Chosen, none of this was your doing, nor do you deserve retribution. If anything, you of all people should have been spared such an affliction."

Colette blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"You have shown time and time again more valor and courage than men and women three times your age, your _natural_ age." The angelic swordsman continued. "Do not punish yourself where punishment is not due."

The Chosen didn't reply. She simply watched him with her deep blue pools, not moving a muscle, yet taking everything in. At least, Kratos figured she was taking in something. What, he wasn't entirely sure, but there had to be something. After what felt like an eternity and a half, Colette tilted her head and broke into a warm, bright smile.

For the first time he could remember in a very long time, Kratos had the urge to fidget under her gaze. Thankfully years upon years of training and self control kept that urge firmly in check. Being under the scrutinizing stare of a five year old wasn't something he normally was subjected to, though he'd gotten quite a lot of scrutinizing lately courtesy of Lloyd. Oh yes, he couldn't very well forget that easily. Nonetheless, there was a major difference between the way Lloyd would confront him and Colette's whimsical gaze. Lloyd was generally hostile or interrogative, picking around for clues or hints on what the older seraphim was planning next. Normally Kratos wasn't planning anything too spectacular, but there was no point trying to tell Lloyd that. Still, that he could handle. Colette, on the other hand, just stared at him. That was all. Stared and smiled. Smiled and stared.

Kratos wasn't used to people randomly smiling at him. It made him uneasy.

"Is there something of interest to you?" Kratos finally asked, eyebrow caulked at an angle.

"... nothing." Colette chirped sweetly, her skirt flipping from side to side. Kratos' eyebrows creased again. It was certainly not nothing. No one sane stared at anyone for a prolonged amount of time and then said it was nothing.

Then again, it was Colette, so maybe he was over thinking matters-

"Mister Kratos, you and Lloyd are really alike." Said miniature Chosen commented suddenly, which mentally threw Kratos off kilter. The seraphim swordsman halted his swift strides and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Elaborate."

"Well, you both want to help people wherever you can, even if Lloyd is more open about it." Colette replied. "You act like you don't care what happens to anyone or anything, but you always are there helping when it counts. You're kinda sneaky about it and act all tough like you don't really care, but deep down, you mean well, I think."

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Even though I am in the employment of Cruxis, the very organization who wishes to take your life for its own? Wouldn't that be hypocritical to assume?"

"No, I think you're in Cruxis because you have your own reasons, not because you like it. You never seem happy to see anyone working for Cruxis, but whenever you see Lloyd and us, you kinda look... relieved."

That was true. Whenever he caught sight of Lloyd after the incident in the Tower of Salvation, the age old angel felt a wash of relief flood his systems, even if Lloyd was yelling threats. Lloyd had not been felled yet and the chance he could finally put the monster his father created to justice was still a possibility. That, and he did not want to see his son die before his time.

Why she managed to catch onto that, however, he couldn't fathom.

'And here I thought I was a master of deception. How humbling.' He mused wryly.

"Is that all?" Kratos asked, hoping it would be.

"No." The Chosen cherub shook her head vociferously. Kratos sighed. Of course it wasn't.

"You both grip your swords the same way, you both fight using the same stance, and you both say a lot of the same things, but you have different ways of saying it. Like what you said earlier, Lloyd says that all the time, but it's 'don't beat yourself up for things you didn't do.' Mister Kratos, you said the same thing, but just with bigger words."

Kratos remained silent. Despite what he had hoped, she did make a good point. He and Lloyd shared a fair many traits, though Lloyd chose to vocalize them more frequently and it was entirely plausible they fought along the edges of the same style. Kratos had trained the boy at one point, after all. It would have been troubling if he did not display any coinciding martial techniques.

"Perhaps I do." He consented heavily. "I did instruct Lloyd for a while in the art of swordplay. However, saying there is more between us is merely juxtapositioning facts."

"But it's more than that!" Colette insisted, waving her petite hands up and down like she used to on the Journey of Regeneration when she wanted to make a point. "You both have the same face shape and eye shape and you're both really stubborn. Your hair even grows the same direction. I think you both have more in common than most teachers and their students."

'Probably most teachers and students aren't father and son, either.' The seraph groused unhappily. 'But I'm just splitting hairs at this point-'

"Mister Kratos... are you and Lloyd related?"

That comment, that mere question came close to stopping Kratos' heart. His throat clenched shut and if not for his will power, the seraphim might have forgotten how to breathe. No, she hadn't said that. She COULDN'T have. No one outside of Cruxis and a few outside, like some of the renegades, knew that, save a certain red headed Chosen on Cruxis' payroll. He must have been hearing wrong.

"... what did you say?" He asked in a low whisper.

"Are you two related?" Colette repeated curiously. Immediately, Kratos stiffened up and turned away from her penetrating stare. He had to nip this in the bud and now before anyone else got any ideas.

"I am an angel of Cruxis. He is... well, not." He responded stonily, his grip on the hilt of his sword so tight, his hand went white. Colette blinked.

"So?"

"What makes you think we are?"

"Ever since we met you at the temple of Martel, you've been more focused on Lloyd than anybody else, though you were supposed to be protecting me."

"Chosen, as you recall, I was posing as a mercenary and thus had a role to portray-"

"Yes, but even if you were an angel of Cruxis secretly, if you were really interested in fulfilling whatever you were doing, you would have spent every waking moment keeping an eye on me. But you didn't. Whenever I think of the Journey of Regeneration, I remember you and Lloyd together all the time. Sparing, talking, arguing, or doing nothing at all. If all you had cared about was your mission, you wouldn't have bothered paying any attention to him."

Okay, that made enough sense. Still, what on either world's earth made her come to the conclusion that the pair of them were related? They could have been merely enjoying the companionship of another male, like soldiers in a platoon. He had specifically made sure no hints could link them together as members of the same family. As a result, no one ever made the connection, at least not to his knowledge. So why was she asking now?

"And what makes you think that now after all this time?" He pressed tersely. He might have been capable of patience, but if his closest guarded secret was on the verge of breaking free, pleasantries no longer mattered. Like Kratos had pressed a button, the Chosen instantly became riddled with remorse and poked at the hem of her dress. Kratos raised an eyebrow. What had she done?

"Um... before we left to go outside, I went up the stairs to go say good bye to Lloyd for now and... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spy! But.. I saw you sitting next to Lloyd while he was sleeping and... you were holding his hand."

"..." Kratos was speechless.

"It's just... family does that. I was just thinking... that if you were both related, that would explain everything, why you're helping us, why he's turned into an angel and why you don't want Lloyd to get hurt."

One lapse of weakness. One fatherly lapse had brought about his secret exposed. How could he have let that happen? He'd even checked the door to make sure no one had been there to witness him. How could he have missed such a crucial piece of information like an well meaning eavesdropper? She may not have known the precise relationship between Lloyd and himself, but that didn't matter. They would piece it together quickly enough. If Lloyd found out... Kratos didn't even want to think about that. Not only would he be highly embarrassed his hand had been held like he was an invalid, the idea he was related to Kratos at all would surely send the boy reeling off the deep end. After all he'd done to the world and to all of his friends, the last thing Lloyd would ever want would be to know his enemy was also his blood.

Regardless, Kratos could see his whole plan crumbling around his feet. The moment Lloyd knew, he would demand answers, ones that Kratos knew he could not give. When he wouldn't get them, he would completely drive himself away and cut himself off from any support Kratos managed to gather. That would destroy any chance of using the eternal sword against Yggdrasill. And if he did give Lloyd the answers he sought, that would only spurn Lloyd into trying to do it all himself, which would in turn set himself directly into Mithos' line of fire, something Kratos could not let happen. Either way, no matter how he looked at the situation, it was hopeless-

Kratos was so ensconced in his own morose musings, the sensation of a small hand wrapping around three fingers on his right hand and squeezing almost sent him on the roof. He swiftly turned his eyes down at his hand and saw the Chosen was clutching it in her own in a means of comfort. No wonder he jumped. It had been years since anyone had gotten close enough to even touch him, let alone hold his hand.

The incident on the bridge with Lloyd didn't count.

"Don't worry. I won't say anything." She smiled concernedly while patting his hand with her other. "You don't want him to know just yet. It's okay."

"This sort of thing... has to be said between the people involved. Anyone else saying anything will only make it more complicated. You knew about what was going to happen to me during the Journey of Regeneration and didn't say anything, and I really appreciated that. I'm just happy I can return the favor."

Kratos could barely believe what he was hearing. His greatest secret had been discovered and now she was offering to keep his confidence. Thank fate for small favors that it had been Colette, one of the most honest people he had ever come across and not any of Lloyd's other compatriots.

Silence filled the air around the pair for a few moments before Colette's grip on his hand slackened and she stepped back to peer up at him.

"I'm sure Lloyd would want to know." The petite acolyte smiled warmly while swaying from foot to foot as some wind brushed her hair around her face. "He's not too good with change, but he'll come around. All he needs is time."

"COLETTE!"

Both seraphim and cherub's gaze shot towards the shout. Lloyd and the others stood precariously in front of the entrance to the village, waving their arms like a bunch of chickens ablaze and making all kinds of ruckus, attracting a variety of stares as a result. Kratos sighed again. He didn't care if they were the size of school children. A little decorum wouldn't kill them.

Colette didn't seem to share his sentiments, for she waved just as rapidly and ran over to greet her friends. The aged old angel let her go without hesitation and took his time crossing the courtyard. He needed a few moments to process what had just occurred without interruption.

Colette was quite something. Even though she was ill and in danger of crystallizing from the outside in, Colette only seemed to care about those around her, even someone as undeserving of her grace as himself. She had said she was returning the favor for him keeping her confidence when she'd told him of her sleeplessness and lack of appetite, but Kratos had the distinct feeling she would have kept his secret even if he'd told the others within three seconds of her divulgence. That was simply the kind of person she was. He could tell it was implied she expected him to eventually tell Lloyd of their relation, which she had thankfully not guessed upon, but she wouldn't be the one to do it. Telling Lloyd the truth was still the subject of self debate, but at least his secret was safe for now.

'I have a distinct feeling beneath that childlike demeanor lurks someone wiser than all of us. As scary as that sounds.'

"Good, you finally deigned to join us." Raine greeted him frostily. Kratos glared at her. She must've still been in quite a mood from the incident with the mayor, but that was hardly reason for her to take it out on him.

"Hmph." He retorted, only earning another chilly scowl from the pint sized Professor. Lloyd, on the other hand, missed the exchange of dirty looks and gestured to his companions for them to follow, his swords clinking about at his hips. He must have retrieved his affects from his friends during their brief separation.

"Good, let's get going to my house." Lloyd pointed towards in the direction of the forest with a broad grin. "Dad'll know what to do."

* * *

"Whaddyou mean you don't know what to do?" Lloyd's palms slammed into the side of the oak table in disbelief.

"Jus' what I said." Dirk replied while he used a rag to clean off some soot from his hands. "Cruxis Crystals may be an evolved form of exsphere, but I'd be lyin' if I said I knew anything about 'em. You'd be better off askin' a dwarf in that Tethe'alla place."

Kratos leaned against the wooden beams that made up the wall and observed the unfolding scene. So far he was impressed with the versatility of the dwarf's demeanor, since the moment he'd set eyes on Lloyd's new frame, his first comment had been 'Alright, what have ya gotten yerself into now?' Most people were at least taken aback by their sudden change in appearance, but Dirk didn't seem phased. Perhaps all the years spent with Lloyd had taken all the shock out of everything, no matter what they were.

It hadn't taken the Professor long to explain the events leading up to and after their alteration, albeit she opted for the abridged version, and Dirk took it in stride, saying 'With the way the world was turnin', nothin' surprised him anymore'. At least that had been virtually painless.

Unfortunately the lack of diagnosis made up for the painlessness with gusto.

"So there's nothing you can do?" Lloyd slumped his chin onto the table's edge, thoroughly deflated.

"'Fraid not." Dirk shook his head, stuffing the rag into his pocket and sliding off his workman's stool. "Like I said, if ya know any dwarves in that Tethe'alla place, ya'd be better off askin' them."

"Guess we're off to see Altessa then." Sheena ran a hand through her raven bangs and groaned. More collective groans echoed and shoulders slumped. It had been the hope of everyone Dirk would know how fix the problem right off, but if he couldn't even tell them what was wrong, that didn't bode well for finding a cure.

"Better get this grand goose chase underway then." Zelos fingered a spare piece of hair from his eyes. The others nodded in resignation and turned towards the door, but were cut off by the aged dwarven blacksmith.

"Well, ya can spend the night here restin' before ya go galavanting to hell and back lookin' for a cure." Dirk offered casually. "Ya look like ya were run through a wringer. No point runnin' all over the place without some energy to back ya up."

"Thanks Dad!" Lloyd beamed. "That'll be great! That'll give us some time to think on where to go next from here."

Kratos' head slightly inclined. That was his cue to leave. If Lloyd was as serious as he sounded, there was very little chance he could do anything other than watch from afar and try to keep Lloyd safe and his schedule at the same time. Like he thought before, all he needed was to be creative.

"I must politely decline." The seraphim stated firmly and swiftly breached the gap between himself and the door. Footfalls clattered on the floor as someone was approaching his retreating back and from the heavy pound they made on the floor, it was pretty easy to tell Lloyd was following him.

"Kratos, where are you going?" The slender six year old asked. Kratos didn't answer. Lloyd didn't need to know where he was going. It wouldn't matter anyway.

"Hang on a minute. I need a word." A hand rested on his shoulder and firmly held him back. Slightly surprised, the seraphim looked over his now captive shoulder to see Dirk had been the one to hinder his speedy exit.

He probably shouldn't have been that surprised, looking back on it. Dirk was the only one at this point who could _reach _his shoulder, let alone grasp onto it. The dwarf seemed pleased enough that Kratos had ceased his movement, as he then relinquished his grip and glanced at the rest of the primary school parade.

"All of ya, go outside and play or somethin'." Dirk waved his hand towards the door. "Gotta have some grownup talk without little ears listenin' in."

Lloyd rolled his eyes. So did everyone else.

"Dad, I'm not _really_ a little kid-"

"Then go weed somethin'. Just git outta here!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Lloyd retreated out the door, albeit rather grudgingly, and was quickly followed by the rest of his familial flock, who also looked cranky at the prospect of being banished to the yard. Once they'd finally gone far enough away that even Colette was out of earshot, the dwarven craftsman shut the door and bolted it down so it wouldn't budge no matter how hard it was pulled.

"Took 'em long enough." He gruffed, dusting his hands of the debris. Kratos didn't comment, instead choosing to fold his arms over his chest and eye Dirk curiously. What would he want to talk about? Perhaps he wanted a further play by play on how Lloyd came to be so small so quickly. Kratos internally snorted. If he knew THAT, he wouldn't be wasting his time waiting around. He would have set off immediately in order to find a cure.

"You wished to discuss something with me?" The age old angel prompted, eyebrow raised and ready.

"Yeah. It's about Lloyd." The dwarf pulled out a chair, took a seat and gestured for Kratos to do the same. Kratos declined, politely, but he did. After years upon years of standing to attention, sitting just wasn't very comfortable. Dirk didn't seem to mind though, for which Kratos was grateful.

"What about him?" Kratos inquired, not entirely sure where this conversation would lead him.

"He's in a heapin' plate of trouble, probably more than he's ever been in." Dirk replied. "Lloyd's gotten 'imself in a whole lot more hell than he's ever been in before. I knew his exsphere was special, but who in hell woulda guessed it would turn 'im into one o' those angel types, or at least somethin' in that ball park. But that just means he's in way over his head and if we put the boy's track record on display, it's only gonna get worse. An' make no mistake, he's a good boy, but when it comes to safety, he's dumber 'an dishwater."

Kratos bit back a smirk. While a bit painful to admit Lloyd wasn't all that smart when it came to his own well being, at least Dirk knew it to be true also.

"And ya know as well as I do, if they're gonna go running to hell and back tryin' to fix Colette, there's no way they're not gonna run into someone means 'em all kinds of trouble." The dwarf continued candidly. "With Lloyd the way he is right now, there's not a chance they won't catch onto his secret, 'specially if he doesn't know how to work it right. That wing fluff could pop out right in the middle of a town an' then what he'd do? Get busted, that's what."

"He's too small to take care of 'imself anymore and I don't care what the boy'll try to tell ya, he was only a boy to begin with. He's gonna need protection an' a lot of it." Dirk shook his head tiredly, musty glove holding the side of his bearded face. "An' I gotta tell ya, a dwarf doesn't put up much of a fight for long."

The archaic angel frowned. That was unfortunately true as well. Dwarves could fend off their attackers for a short while, but going against an entire army by themselves and winning wasn't heard of in any battle history books he'd familiarized himself with during the years. Dwarves generally came into the fray for their techniques and skills at the hearth, not for combat. That wasn't saying they couldn't fight by any means, but it wasn't their main foray.

"So, I think he'd be better off goin' with ya instead of taggin' along with his friends."

"You want him to... go with me?" Kratos repeated incredulously, but then immediately regained his everlasting stony expression. "I am not aware the others informed you of my status right now, but due to past events, I am less than favorable."

Dirk wasn't deterred.

"They mean well, but in the end, youth has thickened them all up, the Professor included." The rough dwarven blacksmith insisted. "He needs to go with ya, end of story."

Kratos raised an eyebrow again.

"Why do you think that?"

"He needs protection from the world and what better way then to leave 'im in the care of his real father?"

Kratos stared at Dirk, completely at a loss for words. Dirk stared back at him, held it for a while and then broke it off due to a chorus of jovial laughter at the Cruxian's sudden lapse.

"Yeah, I know. Hell, I knew the first moment I laid eyes on ya." The dwarven craftsman chuckled heartily. "Before ya ask me how, 'cause that's the look ye've got right now, I've got a dwarven intuition that's never steered me wrong yet and it told me ya were him."

Kratos' eyes widened ever so slightly. 'Dwarven Intuition'? He wasn't familiar with that ability. Was it on the same level as those of elves and half elves with mana signature trails?

"Plus, ya look a lot like Lloyd and I saw ya talkin' to his mother's grave. Strangers don't do that, unless they're crazy and ya don't seem all that crazy to me."

Ah. That was how. For someone who fancied himself rather adept at the art of deception, today had certainly not been the best showcasing of his talents. Instead, he'd been found out by Colette to a degree and now Dirk. Who was going to find out next, Noishe? No, Noishe knew as well, but thankfully he couldn't talk to anyone but a select few.

"Somethin' else I can tell is ya care a hell of a lot about that kid. It's the way ya look at 'im." Dirk let out a shallow breath and let his gaze drift to the pebbled glass of the window. "That's the look of a father watchin' his son grow up. Or... grow down as the case may be, I guess."

"But I gotta know somethin'." The dwarf returned his eyes from the window to Kratos once more. "What happened in the forest all those years ago? Ya can tell me. I won't be spillin' it to Lloyd or the others, if that's what you're concerned about."

Kratos looked painfully off to the side. He never wanted to be forced to remember what happened that fateful day, but given the circumstances, he had little choice. Dirk knew who he was and he realized there was no way he could successfully convince him otherwise.

"... we were attacked." Kratos finally spoke in a defeated tone while his hand drifted to the security of the hilt of his sword.

"Desians?" Dirk's furry eyebrows lifted.

"Yes. During the attack, Lloyd fell with Noishe and.. Anna over the cliff. I fought them off and descended it, but it was too late."

"Hm, I thought ya mighta been there at the spot where he'd fallen." The dwarf mused wisely. Kratos lifted his gaze on one of the side walls and looked at Dirk inquisitively. He had seen hide, nor hair of anyone alive when he'd been there, so how-

"When I went back where I found 'im, I found prints in the dirt and some drag marks leadin' away from there." Dirk explained, cutting short Kratos' confusion. "I'm not one o' those fancy scientist types, but it doesn't take much to figure out what happened there." The dwarven blacksmith's gaze suddenly grew sober and he leaned across the table that separated the two men, though Kratos was still standing.

"They dragged ya outta that place, didn't they?"

Kratos closed his eyes. Ever reminded by his nightmares, he could still see the blood everywhere on the ground, the dead, half eaten bodies of Desians, what remained of his wife's body and... that one little shoe.

That one blood stained shoe.

He didn't remember how long he'd knelt there in despair, but he did know he'd been dragged away by the Desians so he could answer for the 'crime' of defecting from Cruxis in the first place. That had been the beginning of the worst period of his life, bar none.

"...Yes." The seraph responded listlessly, trying to stave off all those flooding memories of despondency. "By the time I finally managed to see the sun again, it had been far too long for him to have survived on his own. I thought... there was no way he could have been alive. That was what I was convinced, anyway."

By Cruxis. He'd been convinced Lloyd was dead thanks to that maniacal brat on the throne, only to realize close to fifteen years later Lloyd had been alive the whole time. Fifteen years he'd missed in Lloyd's life. Fifteen years he would never gain back.

Mithos would answer for that as well, mark his words.

"And if ya knew he was still breathin'?"

"I never would have stopped searching." Kratos' russet eyes flared with unbridled, raw passion, though his face betrayed none. "Never. However, regardless of my sentiments, I shamefully did. For that, I have forfeited my status as a father and thus have no right to-"

"Now when did makin' a mistake mean ya lose the right to yer own flesh and blood?" The brusque dwarf interjected, pointing a thick sausage like finger at Kratos' nose. "Ya just do yer best and pick up where ya left off. It's not like you ditched 'im. It wasn't yer doin'. Ya don't stop being somebody's old man just because you don't think yer s'pposed to be."

"Besides, just look fer yerself." Dirk got out of his chair, grasped Kratos' arm and steered him to the window. Kratos didn't have the heart to jerk away, all the fight seemed temporarily drained out of him at the moment. From the window, Kratos could see his son and all of his cohorts huddled around in a circle like a miniature pep talk, and from what he could tell, Lloyd was doing most of the talking. A natural leader. Anna would have been proud, as he was.

"He's okay... well, he shrank like one of his old socks, but yeah, he's okay." Dirk shrugged halfheartedly, but in a good natured way.

"He's turned out much better than I could ever have hoped." The seraph mused quietly.

"Lloyd's a good kid. There's no sense in denyin' it. He may be thick sometimes, but deep down he's got a heart o' gold. And I'm not gonna take credit for it. He woulda been a good kid regardless where he grew up. I'm proud of 'im. Ya should be too."

"I am. Thank you."

"Fer what?"

"Taking care of him. He's turned into a fine young man and it's thanks to you."

"Ah well, Dwarven Vow Number Two: Never abandon someone in need." Dirk waved his index finger back and forth. Kratos felt an inkling of a smile want to come forth, and while he normally would have stomped into the depths of his being, he let it emerge, if only for a moment.

"Well, Lloyd's a good kid, but I had my turn in the barrel." Lloyd's foster father clapped the seraph on the back roughly, making Kratos jump in the process. "Now that he's grown backwards, ya should use that to yer advantage."

Still a little rattled, Kratos regained his composure and glanced at Dirk out of the corner of his eye, eyebrow raised in a silent question at what he meant by that. Dirk only met his gaze, laughed again and peered through the window's pane again.

"He's a little squirt again. Think o' this as a second chance." The dwarven blacksmith responded warmly. "Very few people get do- overs."

* * *

"Y'know, something's been bugging me." Sheena yawned into her fist and propped the side of her head up with her knuckles. "There are four seraphim, right? Why four? What's so great about that number?"

"I never really thought of that." Lloyd rested his chin into his hand and stared up at the sky.

"You never really think of a lot." Genis snarked back with a grin. Lloyd shot him a halfhearted dirty look and cuffed him in the shoulder.

"Shut up, Genis."

"To be fair, I never thought of that either." The pint sized Professor interjected loftily. "That particular footnote has never entered into any of the texts I've perused over the years."

"The church never talked about the details either." Colette shook her head, as did Zelos, though it was hard to tell as he was laying on the grass looking at them upside down again. It had more of the effect that his head had gotten caught by a stray breeze than anything else.

"And that's not all. Whenever I've gone to any one of those churches with tons of depictions and stuff like that, I've only ever seen the three seraphim." Sheena continued riding down her train of thought. "Where's the fourth one?"

Everyone paused. While that might have been a weird point at first, the idea refused to go away. There was Yggdrasill, Yuan and Kratos, but... who was the fourth one? They saw a few spare angels, like that jerkwad Remiel, but he wasn't nearly powerful to be the fourth seraphim. So.. that left the question, just who was it?

"That's funny, 'cause I remember that in the House of Guidance I woke up in, they had this huge altar with all these pictures engraved in the gold and there were these busts of the seraphim in the sculpture." Lloyd punched his hand into his fist like a hammer. "I asked the nun, but she just talked about the three of them. I even looked at the busts up close, so I could tell it was Yuan, Kratos and Yggdrasill, but it didn't matter how far away I could have been, there were only three."

"I'd like to look at a bust up close." Zelos grinned wolfishly, his head lopsided just like his grin.

"Not that kind of bust, you perv." Genis scowled and kicked him in the head.

"So does that make the Goddess Martel the fourth seraphim or is there another seraphim we don't know about just raring to spring up and judgment our sorry rears?" Sheena suggested, grimacing. Everyone else did too. The thought of another seraphim lurking in the shadows to pounce upon them didn't sound appealing at all.

"Here's hoping not. I don't want to get stealth squished." Genis shuddered.

"But what if the Goddess Martel is a seraphim as well?" Regal hypothesized from his seat on a rock. "That would explain the fourth missing angel, correct?"

"What makes her a goddess and them just seraphim then? Zelos flipped over and flopped his chin onto his arms. "A ranking system?"

"Yeah, and if the other three seraphim are below her in the seraph circle, why aren't they as high as she is?" Sheena followed up. "What makes her so special?"

"I'm guessing too much work." The red headed chosen retorted lazily. Sheena scowled at him.

"We're not talking about you."

"I don't think it's that simple." Raine responded. "It could be that it isn't that they don't want to, it's that they CAN'T. Maybe the others aren't ahead of her because of a secret they're hiding or perhaps a hidden weakness that she doesn't possess. Unfortunately, I have no idea what that weakness might be."

"It seems there is much about Cruxis we have yet to discover." Presea stated whilst tying a white ribbon into bow around one of her pigtails.

"Indeed. If we manage to avoid further attacks long enough, it would be prudent to conduct some research regarding our enemies, more specifically the four seraphim." The petite Professor agreed. "If we know our adversaries, then perhaps a weakness can be found."

From where he laid precariously on the ground, Zelos lifted his head up about ten centimeters and shot her a disdainful look.

"You really know how to lighten the mood, don't you?" He let his head fall back onto his arms pillow and sighed dejectedly. "Think positively." Raine scowled frostily at him.

"I prefer informed realism to ignorant optimism."

"Killjoy."

"Kratos is back, everyone hush." Sheena put her finger to her mouth and hooked a thumb over her shoulder. Sure enough, the door to the house had opened and out strode Kratos, who by the looks of things, was on a mission. He didn't stop right in front of them like expected, but walked across the bridge and headed for the forest. Lloyd

frowned and bounded to his feet. Just where did he think he was going? He couldn't leave just yet. Lloyd had to convince him to let him go with him. He couldn't very well show Kratos how much better his plan was than Mithos if said seraphim wasn't there, now could he?

"Where are you going?" The skinny six year old bellowed over the chirping of the birds to the back of the older man. Kratos didn't turn to face him. The only sign he made at all that he'd heard the former seventeen year old was his cessation of walking for perhaps a second or two.

"I have matters I must contemplate." Kratos responded curtly and departed into the trees before Lloyd had the chance to bludgeon him for details.

"And just what the hell does that mean?" Lloyd sourly retorted, sitting back down onto the grass and punching it for good measure.

"It means 'I have to go think about stuff, so butt out' in Kratos- ese." Zelos replied with a flick of his wrist into the air. Lloyd whacked Zelos in the arm with the back of his hand, but it didn't nearly make him feel better. He didn't dislike a lot of things, but he HATED being snubbed.

"Lloyd, there's something we need to talk to you about." Lloyd's cherrywood irises flickered upwards to see the Professor and the rest of his friends closing in on the circle until there was barely enough room in the middle for Genis to sit.

"Sure, but can I say something first?" The slender swordsman stood up out of the circle and took a deep breath. Okay, here it was. Show time.

"See, I was thinking-"

"A first time for everything- OW!" Genis clutched the spot where his sister had smacked him in the head.

"-and maybe it would be a good idea if I went along with Kratos when you all go to Altessa's house."

Now, Lloyd had expected shouting, indignant arguing, and flat out rejections to even the notion of him traveling around with Kratos again.

He wasn't expecting blank stares and gaping mouths like he'd turned blue.

"... huh?" They all asked in dumbfounded shock, Regal, the Professor and even tiny Presea included. Lloyd scratched his cheek awkwardly while facing down their blank expressions, but steeled himself and got his second wind. He had to do this. This was his only shot at swaying them and he had to make it count.

"The way things stand now, we need all the information we can get, especially if Colette is going to get better again." The lilliputian leader continued. "Personally, I think Kratos may know something about this, and if he doesn't, he's got this one device that hooks up directly to the database in Cruxis. There's a chance I could figure out a way to get him to help or at least learn how to use that thing myself."

Contemplative frowns graced the faces of his friends as they slowly emerged from their petrified state and mulled over what he'd put out on the floor... so to speak. More like grass, really.

Good. He was on the right track. No one refuted him so far. So, so far, so good. He just had to keep it up.

"I think Lloyd should go with Kratos too." Colette nodded vigorously, her golden hair whipping Zelos in the side of the face. "He's an angel now, so Kratos will be able to teach him a lot about being one. He might be able to learn a thing or two." The Chosen casanova removed the strands of her hair from his face and looked at her skeptically.

"I dunno, Colette. You're asking an awful lot of the old man."

"Hey!"

"Well, I don't really like it, but Lloyd, you should do what you feel is best." Raine sighed exasperatedly. Lloyd beamed. If even the Professor was starting to see what a good idea he had, it would only be a matter of time before the rest of them agreed too.

But... why did Genis look like he was going to fall over from shock?

"Sis, but didn't you say-"

"It's suicide, but do what you like. Just don't get too close to him, we don't know what he's planning." The professor massaged the back of her hand while Genis squalled in pain from a nasty red mark forming on the back of his head. "But how are you going to get Kratos to go along with it? Have you thought it through that far?"

Lloyd frowned. Truth be told, he HADN'T thought that far ahead. He'd been much more occupied with convincing his friends to let him do it than actually figuring out how he was going to carry it out.

"I'll improvise." He replied honestly. "I'll just have to make him see things my way." He wasn't sure exactly how he would make Kratos see things his way, because honestly he didn't know how Kratos saw the world half the time, but he'd figure out a way.

'Kratos, I'll show you my way is the better one and then you'll join us again, but this time for real.' Lloyd's determination fueled like a blue giant star and burned brightly against his already vibrant cherrywood irises. Satisfied with his speech, the reaction from his friends and himself in general, the fiery first grader plunked back down onto the ground and clamped his hands on his ankles.

"So, what was it you guys wanted to talk about?" He asked cheerily. The others gave each other sparse looks and glanced off to the side. Lloyd raised an eyebrow at their weird behavior. Just what was that for anyway?

"Er... never you mind." Raine patted Lloyd's arm reassuringly.

"Oh. Uh, alright then." Lloyd eyed her suspiciously, but didn't press it. If it was truly important, they would have told him, right? Right.

A large thump sound shook all of them out of their conversation and eight heads shot towards the source of the sound. Was it a monster attack?

No, it was Dirk who, with one washtub under an arm, rolled a second down the path, around the bend of the house and set them both down in front of a metal vat of some sort, the kind that farmers would usually put their grain in. Lloyd's curiosity piqued, so with a flip, he jumped back up to his feet and trotted over to his foster father.

"Dad, what are you doing with the washtubs?" Lloyd asked, his head a tilt and eyes still attached to the washtubs as Dirk removed some off white towels and set them on a stump nearby.

"Lloyd, ya know I'm fond of ya, but I gotta be honest. You reek. So do the rest of yer friends." The dwarf answered gruffly as he reached over and ruffled the boy's already unruly hair. "And I can tell with one whiff that smell ain't comin' out with just a good scrubbin'." Taking his hand away from Lloyd's now even unrulier hair, Dirk reached over to a spigot that attached itself to the side of the vat and turned on the faucet.

Thick, gooey liquid the color of Zelos' hair oozed out the faucet and collected in the bottom of the first washtub in an opaque mess of slime. Everyone shuddered as it continued spilling out of the vat, drops splattering everywhere so the washtubs looked more like a crime scene than a bath tub.

"What's_ that_ stuff?" Genis craned his neck over the side of the washtub to the left and recoiled in disgust when a air bubble came to the surface and made a 'blurp' sound.

"Stuff for ya all to soak in. I keep a bunch of it on hand ever since Noishe got sprayed by a stink monster just in case the idgit went in for round two." Dirk replied while the bizarre crimson goo poured into the two washtubs, filling them close to the rim. "There's only one way to get a stench that bad off yer skin and that's sittin' for an hour or two in good old-fashioned tomato juice. Here are some towels. Now strip to your skivvies and get in."

Seven looked unhappy, but in the end agreed they did need to get rid of that vile stench courtesy of the perfume and took a step forward to receive their fate. One did not. He took a step back.

In fact, he took seven.

"You.. want me... to take a bath... in _tomato juice_?" Lloyd repeated, eying the washtubs with absolute repugnance. "Uh uh, no way, not a chance in hell-"

"Lloyd, quit bein' a baby and git over here." Dirk sighed, his voice laced with exasperation and impatience. "The juice ain't gonna bite ya."

"You don't know that!"

"Bud, come on. You really want to stay smelling like that nasty perfume for the rest of your life?" Zelos latched his arm over Lloyd's shoulders and began steering him towards the tomato tubs. "Just get it over with."

"No!" The frantic first grader roared, and wrenched himself out of Zelos' grasp. The sheer force of his recoil sent the chosen onto his hindquarters into the dust, while Lloyd darted out from underneath his foster father's grip.

"I'm not doing it and there's no way you're gonna make me!" Lloyd shrieked and dashed down the path, across the bridge and into the forest.

"Lloyd, get yer sorry carcass back here!" Dirk bellowed.

"Come back!" Colette shrieked.

"Don't let him get away!" Raine screeched.

* * *

"Go away, Yuan." Kratos opened his left eye to see that someone else had joined him underneath his new designated thinking tree. Yuan must have returned from his excursion to his Sylvarant base quicker than he'd expected. Still, why did he have to come bother _him_?

"And a hello to you too." The blue haired renegade commander returned sardonically. "Have you decided upon what you will do with your offspring?"

"That was what I was contemplating until I was abruptly interrupted. Go away."

"Alright, do as you wish. I do not suppose I care either way." Yuan shrugged indifferently, which folded some of his cape fabric into creases. "... you should tell him."

Kratos' eyes snapped open and he glared death daggers at Yuan. Yuan wasn't phased.

"You should, don't deny it. You won't, but you should." He mused on airily. "But remember, if you don't, someone else will."

"What do you mean by that?" Kratos challenged, his hand trailing to the hilt of his sword, which just itched to create minced half elf.

"I'm merely telling the truth, no matter how much you may not like it." The cerulean turncoat replied innocently. "It will happen, regardless of whether or not you tell him outright or if he finds out from another source entirely." Yuan would have continued, Kratos knew him too well to think he would not, but something caught his ear and took his attention. It was a strange, strangled sound sort of like bellow, but what animal it was, he couldn't tell. It was either in a lot of pain, or it was furious beyond all reason.

Apparently, Yuan heard it too.

"Did... did you just hear screaming?" Yuan asked bewildered at the entirely strange squawking howl echoing through both their ears.

".. yes, I believe I did." Kratos nodded.

"Bird, perhaps?"

"That would be one indignant bird."

"Yes... I guess so. Well, I'll see you back at his home, then." Yuan scanned the forest dubiously before starting back towards the direction of Lloyd's house. "Don't take too long. We're not getting any younger."

* * *

"Y'know, this whole soaking in juice thing isn't too bad." Zelos ruminated aloud as he leaned back against the rim and inspected his left limb, now drenched in scarlet goo. "It's chock full of vitamins, so I bet my skin will be even more beautiful than ever." He let out a relaxed sigh, stretched and then flipped so his chest rested against the sanded wood of the washtub.

"Sucks that I have to be stuck in here with you three." He grumbled, while resting his chin on his arms, and stared off at the other wash tub three feet away. "I'd much rather be over there with my hunnies." The occupants of the second washtub, having realized they had an audience, all sank down into the goo until only shoulders, arms and head were visible and glared.

"You can't come over here, you're a guy!" Sheena snapped at him from the edge of the tub, everything from her neck down coated in tomato sauce.

"That's gender discrimination!"

"I'm sitting in tomato hell..." Lloyd languished miserably. His cherry wood eyes, now paled significantly by comparison to the crimson goo in which he sat, passed over his thin body that was coated in tomato juice and if anyone had listened, they would've heard a faint sob emit from his throat.

"... someone please kill me."

"Lloyd, your hair still smells like perfume." Genis took a whiff of Lloyd's hair, pulled back in disgust and picked up the beer stein Dirk had given them to pour over their shoulders. The half pint half elf scooped up some juice into the stein until it was full and consequently dumped it all on Lloyd's head.

"Not in my face!"

* * *

"Ah, I see you've returned." Yuan looked up from a book as Kratos emerged from the underbrush of the forest. Kratos stopped walking and observed his greeter. Yuan looked entirely too entertained. Whenever he looked that amused, it was never good.

"Yes, I have." The seraphim swordmaster replied warily, his hand slowly going to the hilt of his sword just in case. "You look entirely too amused. What's going on?" Instead of replying right away, Yuan smiled smugly to himself and resumed reading.

"You'll find out." He answered cryptically. Kratos' glower deepened.

"Where's Lloyd?"

"Marinating."

"... what?"

"He's over there." Yuan pointed around the edge of the house, the amused expression still adorning his face. Kratos' glower lightened into more of a curious frown at the direction to which Yuan had gestured. What could he possibly find so funny? Despite every fiber of his being telling him not to, Kratos found himself marching around the corner of the house so he could see to what Yuan had referred.

What he saw, he could barely believe.

There in two washtubs of equal size, sat the four boys and four girls. That wasn't what caught his eye though. They were all drenched in some sort of burgundy concoction and for some reason, one of the boys was coated in it to the point all he could make out were a few features and a pair of very anguished russet eyes.

"... Lloyd?"

"Don't look at me, I'm hideous!" Lloyd flashed his arms over his face, only causing more goo to speckle about on his already vermillion doused face.

Yes, that was Lloyd. But why did he look so unhappy?

"What's he sitting in?" The seraphim swordsman asked Dirk, who'd been leaning next to the side of the vat, most likely keeping an eye on them. The dwarf hooked a thumb up to the vat and then pointed to the tubs.

"Tomato juice. Gets the smell out."

"... to... _tomato juice_?"

"Yep." Dirk nodded. "Stank to high heaven, so they had to get that nasty stink off 'em somehow. Tomato juice is the only way to get that kinda stench out. Put up a bit of a fight, though."

"He climbed up a tree and wouldn't get down." Genis waded over to the edge of the tub and rested his head on it. "But luckily Sheena's a pretty good shot, so she threw a rock at him and got him out of the tree that way."

"We got to throw him in! It was fun!" Colette piped up from over in the girl's tub.

"It was damn hard getting him undressed when he was thrashing around so much, though." Zelos added bitterly, "He kicked me in the head. Twice. I'm gonna have brain damage."

"Not much of a loss, then." Sheena retorted. Zelos turned a shade that rivaled the tomato juice.

"Bansheena!"

"Man Floozy!"

Kratos didn't pay attention. He was too preoccupied staring down at his son, who had the appearance of someone who wanted to cry. Still, he didn't. Instead, Lloyd brought up a hand to wipe some of the goo from his face, sniffed back a breath and froze halfway.

"Gak!" The tomato soaked six year old gasped and clamped a hand over his face, eyes wide and watering.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Genis put a hand on his friend's arm, who still clutched at his face and was practically trying to pull it off.

"IT'S IN MY NOSE!"

Kratos still wasn't sure of many things. He wasn't sure his plan to rescue the world from Yggdrasill's clutches would work. He wasn't sure if he was truly fit to be a parent. He wasn't even sure if the decision he'd made before returning back to Lloyd's house was the right one.

But one thing was crystal clear.

'I can't leave my son with these people.'

* * *

**Whew, another chapter done. I'd better get started on the next one then. But first, I must sleep. And study. And clean. And do things I've been putting off so I could finish the chapter...**

**... *starts to write new chapter***

**Raine: You, go study!**

**Me: Okay, okay!**

**Genis: Thanks for reading and please review!**


	24. Intrinsic Involvement

**Wahah, a new chapter, and at the beginning of the month no less? Ye gads, what is the world coming to?**

**Anyway, heaping plates of thanks to anyone who read, favorited, alerted, did a combo or even all three and a special thank you to LadyoftheDrow, ImJustNutty, MenrowSpirit, FifthDayOfMay, terracannon876, Kiomori, XIII-Jinx-XIII, StarZen, vienrider, AngelofaWhiteNight, kuroXIII, ChibiWolf86, freakyanimegal, windflame, Earth Star, Link-Fangirl01, NightElfSentina, Kisa167, Idiot Lloyd and Genuis Genis, Destiny's Light, Mizu Hoseki, and Arisu Tsuranu for reviewing. I always appreciate you all taking the time to give me feedback. It's really a joy to hear from you all and makes my writing all the more worth the while.**

**Here's my disclaimer as usual. I don't own Tales of Symphonia, for if I did, I probably wouldn't cackle like a maniac every single time I found a new version of Beat the Angel. And, as I do in fact engage in raucous laughter when I find one, chances are fairly good I do not have any rights to the franchise, except as a loyal patron.**

Chapter Twenty Four: Intrinsic Involvement

Kratos never liked tomato juice. In fact, it was fair to say he outright loathed it. Anything tomato related he considered to be an abomination without saying of course, but tomato juice held a special place of contempt in his heart. The gloppy texture, the bitter, sweet yet sour taste, the lurid color, and the slick, yet coarse feeling it had when dripping down the throat, much like a nasty case of post nasal drip. He despised it all. Nothing about it was remotely appetizing, yet he knew millions of people all around both worlds opted to drink it daily if they so could.

He called such people 'crazed lunatics'.

Tomato juice simply wasn't natural. Despite it's plant beginnings, it looked far too much like blood. He didn't like blood.

Despite his misgivings, Kratos did admit blood was important. It allowed life to begin and maintain a body, as did it connect family members to one another, tie a parent to a child and two lovers together through that child as an aspiration and reminder of everlasting love and attachment. That in itself made blood a powerful entity and a force not to be questioned or forsaken. If taken in that regard, blood was indeed a romantic notion, but Kratos was a soldier and knight at heart. Blood to him meant something altogether different.

Blood reminded him of the battlefield, of countless innocents dead in the wake of adversity, of good men dying cruel and pointless deaths. Of young men, barely out of boyhood, bleeding from unmerciful wounds and crying for their families, just minutes before they finally succumbed to the icy grip of death. Of bystanders who'd simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Of nameless soldiers perishing from exsanguination, drowning in pools of their own life force, and spilling each others over triviality, honor, fanatical desires, or at worst, nothing at all.

Violence, destruction, callous sacrifice, all symbolized in one sticky, scarlet substance. People would kill for blood, die for blood, murder for blood. Blood lust only spurned blood loss.

He'd seen it. He'd watched it happen again and again, never yielding, never ceasing. It was carnage, pure and simple, and he knew for a fact juice was _not_ supposed to resemble carnage.

So Kratos opted to avoid tomato juice, along with anything tomato related, with everything he could muster, from declining any offer ever offered to him EVER, to even going so far as to destroying a tomato patch with one well placed 'Eruption' spell.

The farmer may not have liked it, but at least the world was saved from one less tomato patch.

No, nothing could ever convince him to go anywhere near tomato juice. Absolutely nothing.

Well... maybe not ABSOLUTELY nothing.

"And once more." The seraphim swordmaster held the red splotched handkerchief to his son's nose and tried to stave off his first instinct to cringe as Lloyd blew into the fabric. However, despite his efforts, he wasn't sure if he was successful. Lloyd blowing his nose wasn't a particularly pleasant sound by any means and that was only accentuated by his angelic hearing, not to mention the crimson detritus that ended up on the white kerchief by the end of it. At this point, tomato juice and blood were practically indistinguishable.

Kratos frowned at nothing, and yet everything at the same time while his son removed his face from the tissue and shuddered when his large russet eyes met the watery red stains upon the white cloth. That alone should have made him draw back in disgust, but he was much too preoccupied trying to find his mind, which was milling about elsewhere.

Something had possessed him, that much he was sure. On no other occasion in his extensive lifetime had he ever found himself, at the behest of a hysterical bather, bodily rescue someone from out of a wash tub, wrap them in a towel and escort them around the bend to the other side of the house. Normally out of dignity's sake, he would have instructed the beggar in question to endure the hardship and man up, since the incident was not life threatening, but there were two factors he had not counted on. One, it was Lloyd and two, it was tomato juice. He could ignore neither.

Once safely behind the house's main flank and away from prying eyes, Kratos had set Lloyd on a wooden stool that had long since been used for outside crafting, and searched for any type of bowl he could use to rinse the red slime from the frenetic first grader's skin. He eventually found one next to the wooden work bench, and upon removing it from it's home, found something even better. Underneath the bowl sat a spigot that was hooked up to an old, yet well worn hose.

That would work.

Hose in hand, the seraph had then stripped his hands of his gloves, rolled up his white sleeves, turned on the spigot and sprayed Lloyd with the jet of frigid water. Lloyd let out one squawk in the beginning, most likely due to the shock of cold water cascading down his shoulders and back like a waterfall in a speed race, but let it run its course with nary a comment. Apparently the tomatoes had taken the fight right out of him.

Things, of course, inveritably got worse when, out of sheer curiosity over what had caused the sudden rescue, Dirk rounded the bend just in time to witness the cannon of water crash against Lloyd's crimson slime ridden back, thus earning the squawk. He'd barely had time to escape back around the bend before he exploded in a chorus of rough laughter which echoed through the garden. Apparently he'd found the entire scene to be rather funny.

Kratos hadn't shared his sentiment.

Still, he did come back moments later with a bucket, and a collection of ratty old towels, so there wasn't too much the seraphim could complain about. With more than the hose at his disposal, Kratos had then set about the arduous task of removing the stains and sludge off Lloyd's small body while he sat on the stool, towel on his lap and sullen expression on his face. It was obvious the boy was unhappy, not that Kratos could blame him, but Lloyd remained completely still as the seraph worked as diligently and dignifiedly as he could. The entire ordeal of being forced to bathe in tomato juice must've been far too traumatizing for him to merely mind being hosed off.

He probably saw it as a rescue in motion, or at least a better alternative to an equally bad situation.

It had taken Kratos the good part of a half hour to hose all the tomato juice off his skin, and while that had been strenuous and tedious, that hadn't been the difficult part. No, the difficult part arose when Kratos realized that while Lloyd's skin had been liberated, his hair was a completely different story. Much like the mud that Kratos had encountered the first time he'd seen Lloyd in his six year old form, the tomato juice caked itself inside his thick tresses of mahogany hair, staining them a hue that came close to rivaling his own. The session of removing the pulpy concoction had given the juice time to solidify, only making it a more formidable opponent to anyone who dared challenge it. All in all, it was a mess just waiting to happen.

Still, it had to come out, and apparently the seraphim swordsman had been elected to the task. However, the sludge didn't want to go out without a fight. Manually going through each tendril of unruly chestnut hair and removing each glob of tomato gunk from the strands had earned Lloyd another half an hour and some change on the wooden stool.

After all of the slime had been forcibly removed from the youthful swordsman's hair, Kratos had dumped several buckets of lukewarm water over Lloyd's head to rinse off any residual tomato juice and turned the hose on him once more.

Some of that slime would just not come off.

'I'm merely content that's over.' Kratos mused while he observed Lloyd reach for a third towel and rub at his cheek. The boy must have thought he'd missed a spot and some tomato juice was lingering about, just waiting for an opportunity to catch him off guard. In spite of the circumstances and himself, Kratos could feel an inkling of a smile want to sneak out into the open, but he clamped down on that desire as quickly as it appeared. Even though Lloyd was sitting on a damp stool, with wet hair, wetter skin and a soggy towel wrapped around his middle, he seemed much more interested with ridding himself of imaginary tomato paste than actually getting dry. Not that Kratos could blame him, of course. Such experiences would leave one a tad paranoid.

At least he was relatively clean now. He hadn't had much of a bath beforehand, but suffice to say all that thorough scrubbing had left Lloyd squeaky clean and without the scent of distasteful cologne trailing after him like a male skunk during mating season. Kratos was loathe to admit it, but perhaps the tomato bath had done its respective job in the end.

However, the bath, like anything in the world, had a catch to it.

Lloyd may not have smelled like the cologne anymore, but Kratos could detect hints of tomato odor clinging to the boy's skin. That was probably why Lloyd was still convinced actual tomato still stuck to him. The smell was throwing off any developing angelic senses and overall messing with his son's mind.

Kratos glowered and his hand instinctively trailed to the hilt of his sword. He'd left for maybe twenty minutes to contemplate his next course of action, come back and found his son resembling that of a stuck pig hung up to drain after a fresh kill. Removing that title from Lloyd, along with all that juice, had taken quite a lot of work, and that only happened because Kratos couldn't stand the idea of Lloyd wandering around in a tomato juice induced haze. Thanks to his efforts, Lloyd might no longer have looked like a stuck pig, but there were seven little pigs that could end up on the business end of his sword if they weren't careful to mind their P's and Q's.

Blinking twice, Kratos' eyebrows shot to the roof and he thoughtfully rested his chin in his free hand. When had he gotten so irrational all of a sudden? While the ancient angel may have thought it to be a grand intrusion of sentient being's rights to be doused in tomato juice, it wasn't legally a sin against nature to give someone a bath in it.

It should have been, but as of yet, it hadn't entered the bylaws.

Still, he shouldn't have reacted that passionately to something not normally construed as a crime. As he pondered it further, the light of revelation flickered on in the back of his mind and made him bite back an exasperated sigh.

After all those years, parental instinct must have reared its ugly head.

It had to have.

Why else would he be contemplating the best way to seek retribution against Lloyd's friends while holding a tissue to his prepubescent son's nose?

"I can still feel the tomato juice in my nose." Lloyd pulled away from the kerchief and rubbed at his nose vigorously, successfully jettisoning the elder angel out of his revelry in the process. Kratos sighed. If Lloyd kept up his violent prodding at his nose, it would result in a nasty nosebleed, which Lloyd would then probably be convinced he was leaking tomato juice out of his brain.

"Try again." The aged angel gently removed the six year old's knuckles from his face and repositioned the handkerchief overtop his son's nose. Lloyd complied and, after a sound that would have made a trumpet blush, sat back and inhaled through his nose.

"Better, but I can still smell it." The slender swordsman replied while he massaged below his left eye. The seraph frowned. During his tissue frenzy in an effort to clear his nasal passages from any encroaching tomato paste, Lloyd had blown so hard that he'd accidently aggravated his sinuses. That in itself wasn't too horrible, but if Lloyd kept up his determined sneezing, he could get an infection. There probably wasn't a need to mention it, for that might incite another panic attack, but the antiquated angel decided he'd keep an eye on it anyway.

"That will go away with time." Kratos responded as he reached for a towel and cleaned off his hand once again from the residual tomato slime.

"It better." Lloyd groused crabbily, grabbing another towel from the nearby table and wrapping it haphazardly around his shoulders. "I hate tomatoes."

Kratos snorted. That was something they could agree on, now more than ever. Lloyd may have taken the full brunt of the tomato juice, but cleaning up the tomato fest hadn't been much fun either. A significant portion of juice had seeped onto his hands and forearms while he'd worked, and he didn't even want to begin thinking about all the pulp he'd felt stick to his palms and fingers while he pried apart Lloyd's hair by hand, strand by strand.

That was an experience he was all too eager to suppress.

"Anyone with any semblance of sanity would." The seraphim swordmaster retorted curtly, having set down the soiled cloth and briefly inspected his hand for any remaining tomato pulp. Lloyd eyed Kratos curiously, before his eyes widened and his shoulders sank into his chest.

"... that's right. You don't like them either." The slender six year old murmured while he fidgeted with the towel draped around his slight shoulders. Kratos raised an eyebrow. That had to be the biggest understatement of the year, if not century. To not like them was to merely express a disdain for them. As far as he was concerned, if every tomato in both worlds was annihilated by a frost, the only thing he would regret was not being there with a back up freezer just in case said frost got tired.

"I'd like to think myself sane at least some of the time." Kratos replied offhandedly.

"Eheh." Lloyd chuckled quietly under his breath and rubbed under his nose with his two forefingers before falling oddly silent and turning his eyes to the ground. From his own bench, Kratos regarded his sudden reticence and caulked one eyebrow.

"You wish to speak." The seraphim suddenly stated rather than questioned, which jolted Lloyd in surprise and almost made him lose his balance on the stool. Apparently, Lloyd hadn't been expecting his mind to be read, or at least not that quickly. Though, for the sake of splitting hairs, mind reading had nothing to do with it. It was more like body reading. The way Lloyd sat hunched over like a bell ringer gave himself away point blank, he wouldn't make eye contact with anything but the ground, which showed he was apprehensive, and for some reason, every time he had an urge to say something, but felt awkward about voicing it, his left eyebrow would twitch.

"Er, yeah." Lloyd nodded while he readjusted himself on his seat and pulled the towel around his shoulders closer in like he was trying to disappear beneath it. "... Thanks for rescuing me from the tomato bath... and getting the tomato juice out of my hair.. and helping me clean out my nose. I owe you. Big time. And.. and I know you don't like it, so I really owe you one."

Kratos maintained his aloft eyebrow, but didn't verbalize a reply. What could he really say to that that would suffice as an appropriate response? 'You're welcome'? No, Lloyd was most definitely not welcome to ever bath in tomato juice again. 'No problem'? No, that wouldn't do either. It had been quite a problem, no, an ORDEAL, to clean both skin and hair of tomato sludge and not keel over right then and there. The smell itself almost made him pass out on contact as it was.

Still, he did it. Unhappily, grudgingly, and even bitterly, but he did it. Kratos didn't want to have done so, but if he was going to attempt to rekindle a closer relationship with Lloyd like Dirk suggested, it was his fatherly duty to assist in such matters.

'Fatherly'... that word was so foreign. After all those years of thinking he was no longer a father, was he really suited to such a word? No, one never stopped being a father, at least not on a literal level. He just had the chance to fulfill such roles ripped from him so early on.

Well, if Dirk was correct in what he said, Kratos supposed he would find out sooner or later whether or not he was suited to parental duties, though it seemed sooner was closer than its counterpart.

"... Don't worry about it." The seraphim swordsman replied finally, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off a potential headache. Anything else would've made him come off as a jerk, and that would do more harm than good in the long run. In the end, that was what he was going to do personally anyway. Not worry about it, let it crawl into the crevices of his mind and eventually pretend it didn't happen at all.

'You're just lucky you're my son." The antiquated angel added tersely as he pressed the sides of the bridge of his nose harder. 'I wouldn't have done that for anyone else.'

"Why'd you do it?"

Kratos' eyes blinked open and he regarded the slight boy atop the old wooden stool. Lloyd was eyeing him fervently, head at a tilt and his russet eyes were boring a hole into the side of Kratos' head. The older man bit back another exasperated breath.

"You were in need and it is my duty to assist those in need." He responded cryptically. That was true enough. Lloyd had been in need and technically it was Kratos' duty to assist those in need. Even if he'd turned a blind eye to Mithos for so long and ignored it for most of his life, it was still his duty. The part of Lloyd being the only person in either world that Kratos would have helped in such a situation was merely a technicality.

Lloyd didn't seem too satisfied with that answer, for he swiveled his eyes at a nearby rock and pulled his towel over his head so it gave the impression the towel was eating him, not that Kratos was all that surprised. Despite what he'd like to think, the age old angel knew his answer had been less than filling for the boy's curiosity streak. It had only brushed against the surface of the true reason, but that was a place Kratos couldn't afford to go, not yet. He still had things to take care of before he could tread such waters, and they were both far too close to prying ears just dying to learn more of the seraphim's personal life.

After what he deemed a lengthy amount of mulling, Lloyd craned his neck out from underneath the towel's edge and caulked an eyebrow in the air. Kratos mirrored it with his own.

"Chivalry?" The squirt questioned skeptically, craning his neck out from underneath the terry cloth as if honing in on a specimen. Kratos sighed and sifted some of his auburn hair through his fingers.

"Chivalry."

Lloyd eyed Kratos, then his towel and rubbed his nose on his arm.

"... Chivalry is awesome." Lloyd stated in a tone that drastically contrasted with his appearance. Kratos couldn't help but give him a flat look. While he agreed that chivalry was a dying art and should be incorporated into all aspects of life, rescuing stray children from rogue tomatoes didn't automatically deem it 'awesome'.

"Well, I owe you... again." Lloyd continued, the flat expression not deterring him in the least, "So if you ever need help or rescued, so just say so. I'll be there."

'I appreciate the sentiment, but I do not foresee myself taking a bath in tomato juice in the nearby future.' Kratos mused mutely as he let the side of his face rest in his palm. He knew Lloyd meant well by what he said, but it would take more than a rock, an army of small children and a dwarf to get him near a tomato soak. Though, thinking about Dirk and his son's friends brought another topic to his mind that he'd forgotten in the heat of the moment.

"Lloyd, I need to discuss something with you." The seraphim's spine straightened from his position on the nearby bench and regarded Lloyd, who was fighting a few renegade spikes of hair that aimed to tickle his nose. Kratos had to battle the urge to sigh again. For someone who was supposed to eventually reunite the worlds and stop Mithos' insanity once and for all, why was his hair besting him?

No, on second thought, the seraph figured he didn't want to know the answer to that.

Blinking, Lloyd glanced up from his war with his hair and gained a somewhat perplexed expression. He met Kratos' stare, russet on russet, and watched him curiously as to what could possibly warrant a discussion from the seraph while he sat in a towel. Kratos took that to mean for him to begin, but apparently Lloyd had other plans, for he hopped off the stool before the antiquated angel could even get a word out.

"Can I say something before you do?" The lilliputian bandleader asked, wrapping the towel firmly around his shoulders.

"... go ahead." Kratos gestured tiredly. If there was something he wanted to say, he'd best get it over with before Kratos informed him he would be accompanying him instead of staying with his friends.

That way the boy could get it out of the way before he forgot when the raging kicked in.

"Well.. er.." Lloyd suddenly lost his zeal and pressed his index fingers together, his eyes drifting off to the side so they rested on a particularly interesting stump. Kratos couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. If he had something to say, he had better say it before he actually re-aged the chronological way.

"Lloyd, if you want something, speak like you mean it." The seraphim swordmaster chastised astringently, ire laced in his tone. "It shows respect and grace for oneself and the person to whom is being conversed. Speak clearly with your head held high and do not mumble."

Lloyd's cheeks glowed red and not because of tomato residue.

"I wasn't mumbling. I was just thinking about it first." The paltry boy responded testily, still he straightened up and fixed his gaze on Kratos' eye that wasn't curtailed by a veil of auburn hair. "See, I was thinking. Everyone is planning to go to Altessa's house after they're done getting dressed and spent the night here."

"Go on." Kratos gestured to show he was following along. That seemed to boost Lloyd's confidence, for he puffed out his chest a tad and his eyes brightened with renewed vigor.

"You said that you were going to leave right away."

"That I did."

"I was wondering if, when you go... perhaps I could go too." Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and tried his best to keep his eye contact with the older angel, though he seemed to have been having some difficulty. "You know, like last time, only longer."

If not for years of strict taciturnity and stoicism, Kratos' jaw would have dropped. Lloyd wanted to go with him? Out of all the things he'd been expecting from the squirt of a swordsman, that hadn't entered on the list. The seraphim had figured that upon informing Lloyd of Dirk's wishes, he foresaw Lloyd fighting tooth and nail against the verdict. His track record had been less than sterling, the incident in the tower especially, not to mention the orphanage encounter and that episode with the adoption contract, so logic dictated Lloyd would be less than willing.

Thankfully, Lloyd was not logical whatsoever.

"You wish to travel with me again." The seraphim swordmaster repeated flatly, eying the boy with a healthy amount of skepticism.

"Yeah." Lloyd nodded.

"I see." Kratos folded his arms against his chest. "Why?" There had to be more to this than just a sheer whim of fancy. Experience told him that Lloyd wouldn't do anything without a good reason behind it, and he wanted to know what that reason might be before he undertook Lloyd as a traveling companion once again.

Sure, he'd already planned to undertake Lloyd from the start, but it was the principle of the matter.

"We need to find a way to get Colette better, but with all of us in one spot, it'll be rather hard to get all the information we need within that short a time." Lloyd replied without a hitch. "I figure if I'm with you, we'll cover more ground and will find a cure faster." Kratos raised an eyebrow and one russet set of eyes met another once more.

"Lloyd, tell me why you are truly interested in accompanying me."

For a split second, Lloyd stiffened and took on the general appearance of a wild deer that had wandered into the headlights of an elemental cargo. Internally, Kratos smirked. Aha, so there was another reason that Lloyd wasn't sharing.

"What?" The slim six year old asked.

"You are being deceitful, or at least, your rendition of it. You aren't nearly as adept at keeping the whole truth to yourself as you might think. Thus you are very easy to read." Kratos explained coolly. "What is your real reason?"

Lloyd's gaze shifted to his feet and he shuffled in place like he'd been caught with his hand in Raine's cookie jar. The seraphim observed him, but didn't speak. He didn't deem it necessary. It was obvious both knew Lloyd had been caught outright in a half truth and there was nothing he could possibly say to convince the seraph otherwise, not Kratos thought he would try. Lloyd may have been rather obtuse at times, but even he was not foolish enough to attempt such a folly.

"I'm... I'm confused. I've been confused a lot of times before, but this is a whole new kind of confused, one that I can't even begin to try and solve now." Lloyd quietly confessed, his cheeks turning a lovely shade of cherry red. "I think I need some time to figure some things out. I want to stay with my friends, sure, but at the same time, there are far too many questions I have about everything right now and my searching for answers might in the end slow them down. I don't want them to get slowed down because Colette's really sick and I don't want to be the reason she doesn't get better just because I can't answer my own questions."

Once Lloyd finished and retracted into his terry cloth haven about his shoulders, Kratos let his eyes and mind wander away from the slight form until they reached the never ending blue of the afternoon sky. If searching for answers was Lloyd's motivation to accompany him, his wish did make a substantial amount of sense. Lloyd most likely had dozens of questions about himself, like what was happening to him, why and how to stop or at least manage it, and those questions had answers his friends wouldn't be able to supply. Kratos snorted. Of course they wouldn't be able to help him. They didn't even know why they'd shrunk down to the stature of school children. No, if Lloyd had any semblance of a chance to learn more about what was happening, there was only going to be one source that would have the answers.

And he knew just who that 'source' was.

Though, as he speculated, the angel of death didn't figure the reason his friends' lack of knowledge was what propelled Lloyd to seek his company. Judging by his attitude and from what he said, Lloyd was most worried about the chosen's condition, as he well should have, and he was willing to sacrifice his own desire to go with them for fear of slowing them down. Knowing Lloyd, he probably already felt a substantial amount of guilt for the chosen's condition, having accidentally caused it, and would most likely never forgive himself should she not recover. He probably also feared attracting some deadly adversaries that also might inhibit his friends' success. So, going on a temporary leave of absence from his friend's camaraderie theoretically seemed to be the best option if he was to find his answers and make sure his compatriots emerged victorious. In the end, it was Lloyd's fierce loyalty that drove him to do what he had in order to keep his friends from coming to harm.

A rush of pride and admiration from his son flooded into his chest, though his expression on the surface did not alter. Even though sometimes his execution was reckless, the boy had a good heart, and his unwavering compassion for his friends was all the proof in the world. Something told him that Lloyd would still be helping all he could from the sidelines, because that was just Lloyd all over.

However, a point cropped up in his brainstorm and refused to die away. Were his son's companions aware of the type of danger Lloyd was now in, now that he was potentially found out as both an angel and a little boy by Cruxis? They would be inane to think he'd be safe as the situation stood, but the professor anything but inane. She knew, he was sure of it. Still... did they tell Lloyd? Kratos frowned at a passing cloud. For some reason, he doubted it. Even on the off chance they did, knowing their softheartedness, the others probably would sugarcoat the situation, though it didn't really matter in the grand scheme. Kratos would rectify his lack of information soon enough when away from prying ears. Lloyd had to be caught up to speed if he was to survive all the impending attacks Yggdrasill most likely already had in the works.

"And you discussed this with your friends?" The seraph glanced at Lloyd from the corner of his eye. If Lloyd had conveniently forgotten to discuss this little venture of his with his friends, a dreading feeling in the pit of his stomach told him this would very interesting very quickly, and frankly, he didn't feel like having to fend off a bunch of school children who were all convinced he was whisking Lloyd away to the clutches of Cruxis.

Yuan had already seen him react to his son bathing in tomato juice. He did not need that display for entertainment as well.

Not surprisingly in the least, Lloyd merely blinked and nodded.

"Yeah, they were all fine with it." Lloyd replied simply, his eyes round and innocent. Kratos gave him an incredulous stare. He'd learned in his experience, anyone who was trying to look that innocent was anything but.

"I find that extremely hard to believe."

"It's true!" The smaller of the two insisted heatedly. "I explained the situation and everything and everyone agreed." Letting out a breath, the seraphim ran a hand through his hair and let his eyes meander back to the fervent first grader.

"You do realize that accompanying me would be inevitably mean separating from your friends for an unforeseen expanse of time." Kratos said, his tone reticent.

"I know, but I can handle it." Lloyd reached out a hand from underneath his shoulder towel and scratched at the back of his head. "It's important that I do this."

Kratos let out another breath and shifted his gaze back to the sky. Lloyd had chosen to go on his own accord, so he didn't have to worry about a knock down drag out battle, but for some reason it unnerved him. He understood the reasons for Lloyd wishing to go and for Lloyd, they did make a stable logical argument. All in all, for once he'd actually gotten fate to work in his favor.

If all was going well so far... why did he feel like someone was about to spring out of a nearby shrubbery and engage him in battle?

Kratos rolled his eyes at himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was being paranoid. He simply wasn't used to things going according to plan.

"I see. If you feel that strongly in the matter, I don't suppose there is any way to convince you otherwise." The seraphim finally relented, looked back to his charge and sighed again. Lloyd's entire aura brightened and he swayed happily from side to side on the stool like he'd been awarded all the bacon he could eat for a year.

"Is that a yes?" The chestnut haired boy chirped hopefully.

"I suppose you can take it that way." Kratos acknowledged, tired and praying that building pressure in the back of his head was just from the tomato fumes and not a stress headache. "However, you must understand there will be many things that will need to be addressed if you choose to accompany me."

Lloyd blinked.

"Like what?"

Kratos inwardly cringed. If Lloyd was to travel around with him, it was imperative Lloyd become privy to all Kratos knew about his situation. The seraphim had to admit he didn't know all that he wished to about what Yggdrasill was cooking up in that blonde unstable head of his, but if history was any indication, it wouldn't be pretty. Even speculating tried turning his stomach. Still, regardless, Lloyd had to know about everything lest he become a casualty of ignorance and probably a stray bolt of judgment lightning. He had to know his body was rapidly ascending from the main sequence evolutional phases into a full fledged angel, Yggdrasill had found him out and vowed to destroy him or worse, what to expect after the evolution was complete and why his body was reacting in such a way. Kratos shook his head. Hopefully he wouldn't have to dive too far into that particular part, but he'd just leave that to the future.

"... everything in due time, Lloyd." The seraphim responded despondently, having rested his chin on the back of his hand as he stared off into the clouds. Lloyd needed to know as much as he could, that much was certain, but not now. Now there were too many witnesses and talking to Lloyd about said issues would be difficult as it was. Despite what the rest of the world might think, he was, in fact, a very private man and liked to keep his personal life... personal.

Besides, having a serious discussion while Lloyd was in a towel after a tomato bath rescue wasn't the most appealing setting for such heavy topics.

Completely clueless to Kratos' musings, Lloyd eyed him curiously for a few spare moments, shrugged and ran his thumb and forefinger around the rim of his ear.

"Oh. Alright." Lloyd yawned into his other hand and listed from side to side once more. "So, uh, do you need me to get my stuff or-"

"I'd rather let you air out first." The archaic angel cut him off, though he didn't remove his eyes from the skyline. "You smell like tomato paste and I'd prefer it dissipate before we depart."

"Yeah, I see your point." Lloyd looked down at himself, let out a little breath and stretched. "I'd better get dressed though. I'm getting cold and pants sound nice." He then bent down onto one knee and looked underneath the stool where he'd been sitting.

"Now, where did my undershorts go-"

"I refuse to be seen in that thing!"

Both seraphim and six year old jumped. Something, or rather, someone had sent them both on the roof, except Lloyd's trajectory was stunted when his head collided with the under seat of the stool. While the shrunken squirt of a swordsman rubbed at his wounded head and muttered some choice insults under his breath, Kratos, who felt extremely grateful no one had seen him start, closed his eyes and began to listen with all the angelic abilities he could muster. Just what was going on over there?

"It's just temporary until we can get to a place where they sell new clothes, Zelos!" Raine's voice commanded, the echoes of fabric flapping in the wind. "You can manage for a while."

"Absolutely not! I don't care if they're temporary or what, I'm not getting into that thing. They'll deface my statuesque visage."

"I'LL deface your statuesque visage if you don't put these on!" Sheena's dulcet tones barreled across his senses and almost made his eyes cross.

"Nothing you could ever do would compare to the shame I would feel if anyone in public ever saw me in such a get up!" The future philanderer refuted with all his worth. "I would rather go without!"

"WE don't want you to go without!" Genis shouted fervently. "Suck it up and wear 'em!"

"Yeah, who's gonna get me to?"

"We will!"

"You have to catch me first! And you're doing a lousy job so far!" The first voice, who Kratos assumed to be Zelos, squawked. Sounds of footfalls quickly padded across his ears, which led him to believe that Zelos had taken off in a mad dash in the opposite direction.

"Get back here, you moron!" Sheena bellowed after him. "You can't run around in only your underwear for the rest of your life!"

"Watch me!"

"Zelos, just put on the pants already!"

"Never!"

"Sheena, get a rock!"

Suddenly a blur then streaked by the side of the house and this time Kratos paid close enough attention to see what exactly was occurring.

The instant he did, he wished he was blind.

Zelos bolted across the crunchy summer grass in barely anything except a pair of white undershorts, all the while dodging stray rocks thrown at his head from Sheena, who was hot on his heels and shouting all the way. However, Sheena's aim was less than true because of the gargantuan rolled sleeves bouncing haphazardly about her forearms. As their clothes had all been irrevocably tainted with that foul stench of a perfume and had to be burned, Lloyd's spare changes of shirts from his older days were all that was available for his stunted companions. And judging from the caterwauling, apparently the chosen of Tethe'alla had found them to be a royal insult, thus refusing to wear the spare change. Which, of course, meant now he was running around in nothing but his underwear and what his mother gave him.

It only proved the antiquated angel's theory when five other bodies ran by to join Sheena, each clad in either oversized red shirts or grayish blue pants, all of which were rolled up so the cuffs were comically enormous and the shirts so wide they looked like they'd dressed with bed sheets.

'Does Lloyd ever wear anything else?' Kratos sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. Lloyd's taste wasn't the pinnacle of style, he was loathe to admit, but that didn't merit bellowing like a spoiled toddler at the sheer prospect. It was unsightly.

That irritating chosen really needed to be taught a lesson.

"Still think we should wait 'til I air out?" Lloyd peeked around the side of Kratos' flank and raised an eyebrow at the ongoing chaos. "It's looking pretty hectic out there and..."

Lloyd's train of thought trailed off a cliff when Kratos stepped off to the side, retrieved the old and decrepit hose and turned the spigot on once more.

"...Kratos, what are you doing with the hose?"

Kratos didn't answer. Instead, he grasped onto a nearby coil of the hose and held it like he was strangling a viper. Far off in the distance, the chosen looped back and forth out of the groping reaches of his compatriots like a seal dancing out of the maws of sharks. While his eyes focused onto the ever swerving boy, his hand could feel the pressure building behind his fist, though he dare not let it go.

Zelos was getting too close in range.

"-don't care how many rocks you throw, Sheena, I'm way better at avoiding stuff than Lloyd!" The chosen casanova bellowed over his bare shoulder at Sheena as he dodged out of the way of a particularly large rock...

... right in range.

With the nozzle in one hand and the exorbitant pressure of the trapped water in the other, Kratos took aim and released the water encumbrance. The water fired out of the hose like a cannon, rocketed through the air and sideswiped the crimson haired chosen in a blast of freezing water.

"YARGH!" Zelos shrieked in shock and barreled onto the ground, landing with a supremely satisfying thud right in the middle of the grassy yard and rolled down the hilly lawn until he rolled right into one of the poles used to tie up the clothesline.

"Pfft." The second grade squirt lifted his head, which was covered in mud, dirt, grass and water, and spat out a few stray blades of grass. "What the hell?"

"Good shot!" Sheena pumped a fist into the air. Waiting for nothing, she and the rest swarmed down on Zelos like a horde of bees attacking a cornered bear with honey sodden paws.

"Gotcha!" Genis grinned evilly as Regal and Presea hoisted Zelos, who now looked very much like a green grass clipping monster with red hair, up. "Now you're gonna wear the pants."

"What the hell!" Zelos barked at the top of his lungs, water streaming down his face in turrets. "This isn't fair, you guys cheated! I demand a recount!"

"Shoulda thought of that before you went runnin' around in just yer britches." Dirk called from across the yard, though it was hard to decipher him at first because of his laughing. "Now ya got soaked underwear. Hope you've learned somethin'."

Beneath the green, Zelos face burned bright red. No one seemed to care, though, so as he demanded they recount, do a do over and 'the old man wasn't supposed to be a secret weapon', Presea and Regal frog marched him back across the yard so he could procure some pants, Genis beaming smugly all the way.

Discarding the hose onto the ground now that the water behind it was spent, Kratos glanced down at his son, who stood next to him yet continued to watch another scene unfold as Zelos tried making a break for it, tripped, fell and was dragged back around the bend by his ankles.

"Lloyd, go get your things." The seraphim reached for the spigot connected to the hose and turned it off. "We leave in twenty minutes."

"... okay." Lloyd nodded, eyes still on the scene. It took him a few seconds to get his limbs in gear, but once they did, Lloyd trotted around the side of the house in search of his clothes, all the while making sure he was out of range of any rogue hoses. The age old seraphim watched him go around the bend towards the bustle of activity, shook his head tiredly and began coiling the hose around his arm.

"Nice shooting."

Kratos peered up from the hose, raised an eyebrow at his new companion and set the freshly coiled hose on the bench.

"What do you want, Yuan?"

"Can't I merely come over and compliment you on your chosen soaking abilities?" Yuan asked, his tone feigning hurt feelings while the rest of him just stood there mocking the auburn seraph.

Kratos snorted.

"Not when it's you, no." He replied dully. "Now what is it you want?"

"I was curious about your next plan of action."

Kratos eyed him skeptically.

"How do my plans coincide with your renegade agenda? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the one trying to manage two worlds and a tree seed while slowly whittling at my mind and losing it to insanity."

"Some days I wonder."

"I still can uncoil this hose, Yuan."

"I was only interested on what you were planning next. No need to get so defensive. Besides, you can threaten me with that hose all you want. This cape is waterproof." The cerulean haired seraphim replied coolly, hands brought up in surrender. "Have you decided to take him with you?"

"Yes, I have. It will be safer if he remains in my sight."

"A wise decision." Yuan agreed lightly. "You never know when someone may try an ambush."

"You mean like you did in the Gaoracchia Forest?" Kratos folded his arms over his chest and glared machetes at Yuan. "I already know it was you who separated them in the first place. It didn't take much to recognize your strategizing handiwork."

Yuan stiffened and brushed his ponytail over his shoulder. Kratos smirked. Yuan only did that in front of Kratos when he'd struck a nerve and strike one he had. It HAD been Yuan, though for what ends had Yuan ordered the renegades to strike an ambush on their potential allies he was not sure. He had his theories, but at the end of the day, that's what they were; just theories.

"That was merely a different place and different time." Yuan retorted defensively. "Have you decided to enlighten him?"

Kratos turned his attention off to the side.

"I'm still debating."

"You'd do well to debate faster." The half elven renegade commander advised. "Time is running short and so are your excuses. He will find out about you, especially now that he is being hunted by a certain someone."

"Are you referring to yourself?" Kratos inquired smoothly. "I wouldn't put it past you to reveal others secrets. You made quite a habit of that before, as I recall."

"You know to whom I'm referring." Yuan crossly brushed off Kratos' question. "Yggdrasill does have quite a nasty temper and if word gets out you are harboring a known fugitive, regardless of what connection he may have-"

"Then it is a very good thing no one will be telling him about this little arrangement, on pain of Yggdrasill finding out about a leader of a certain resistance force, now isn't it?" Kratos interjected. "That goes for Lloyd as well." Yuan looked like he wanted to retort with something snide, but something, most likely self preservation, made him refrain.

"I.. I suppose it is." The renegade turncoat responded sullenly, his smirk long gone with the wind. "Now if you excuse me, I must speak with the short half elf girl who used to be a professor." Pivoting on his heel, Yuan tucked his book underneath his arm and stalked off across the yard towards some distant squawks of protest about 'itchy pants'.

From where he stood, Kratos watched his retreating back, smirked again and hung up the hose.

'I know it's highly juvenile...' The angelic swordsman mused while he hitched the hose back into place and snapped the clasp shut.

'... but I love it when I win.'

* * *

Lloyd trotted around the side of his house and pushed the door open. He'd done an extensive search of the surrounding areas in the hopes he'd find his clothes that had unfortunately gone missing in action during the tomato juice incident, but so far he'd had no luck. All he'd been able to locate was a very cantankerous Zelos who was now wearing an old pair of pants Lloyd had worn when he was about ten. They were much too long for the scarlet haired chosen and had to be rolled up several times before his feet were exposed, but despite his earlier squawking, he seemed to be much more irked with something else. Genis had told Lloyd to ignore him and Sheena added he got what he deserved, whatever that meant, so Lloyd disregarded the scene for greener pastures, hopefully in which he could find his pants.

"I hope they're somewhere in here." Lloyd peeked a head into the main entryway of his house and craned his neck for a better view. "Because if they aren't, I'm gonna have one hell of a time explaining to Kratos why I can't get ready." From what he could see, no pile of clothes had been stashed atop the table, nor were they on the far counter or even set next to his Dad's work station.

"If they're in here, I bet they'd be in my room." The lilliputian boy murmured. Grasping his shoulder towel tightly closed with one hand and his waist towel in the other, Lloyd ventured gingerly across the oaken floorboards, all the while watching for any stray nails that may have littered his path. It was not prudent to walk around a blacksmith's shop without shoes on and not pay attention to where one was going. One learned that lesson very quickly after stepping on a box of nails when rushing down for breakfast.

Once he successfully reached the foot of the stairs, Lloyd climbed onto the first step and toppled over when the top of his foot missed the flat surface. The sprightly swordsman managed to twist himself in such a way that he missed the corner of the stairs with his face, but landed in a corkscrewed fashion on his back into the wall, which was by no means comfortable.

"Yeowch." Lloyd propped himself up on his forearms and groaned. "That really hurt."

Flicking his irritated cherrywood eyes upwards in investigation, Lloyd quickly realized why he'd tripped and let his forehead rest on the second stair in exasperation. The stairs were much taller than the last time he'd used them, so using the same amount of spacial reasoning was why he almost whacked himself in the head and banged up his body in the process.

'Plus, I am still sorta damp, so I probably just slipped because I'm slippery.' Lloyd glared bitterly at his legs as he hoisted himself back up. He quickly checked for both towels and while the shoulder one had fallen off in the stair squirmish, the waist one was still firmly on his body.

Well, at least there was that.

'Let's try this again.' Lloyd clawed the stairwell railing and hopped from one stair to the next, all the while keeping a death grip on the oaken bar like it was the difference between life and falling down some stairs.

It took him much longer than before, but he finally reached the top of the stairs that led to his room and the terrace. The door was uncharacteristically closed, which was strange, for he usually left the thing wide open to encourage fresh air. Though, from the other side of the door, Lloyd swore he could hear voices or rather, just one voice that was talking to itself.

"Oh, where is it? I know it's in here somewhere." The voice mumbled anxiously from the other side of the door. "I promise I won't hurt you, just come out and show yourself and I'll get you back home safe and sound. He misses you, y'know."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow, made sure the knot of his waist towel was firmly gripped in his hand and pushed the door open.

His room was just as he'd left it. The bed was slightly unmade, yet not too messy, the plants were all green and flourishing if to greet him a long unsaid hello, and the wooden figurines he'd made during his downtime had collected a thin layer of dust, but other than that were right in the same places he'd brushed them to the side when he'd spent all night fixing up Colette's birthday present.

As his eyes scanned the room, Lloyd's attention shot to the center of his bed, where his clothes had been dumped unceremoniously in a heap, but he didn't care. He found his clothes and that was all that mattered.

That was all that mattered, but it seemed somebody had beat him to the pile and was rummaging inside of it.

A blonde haired somebody.

"Uh... hi?" Lloyd greeted awkwardly and took a step into his room. The pile of clothes squeaked in surprise and Colette's head shot out of the center of the pile, one sock perched precariously atop her head.

"Lloyd!" She gasped and pulled herself out from the pile of dirty laundry. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snoop... well, I did, but it wasn't for any mean reasons or anything, I was just trying to find something and I didn't think I had enough time to wait for you and-"

"Colette, it's okay, I don't mind." Lloyd brushed off her longwinded apology and grinned. "If you're looking for something in my stuff, maybe I can help. It's my stuff after all." Colette seemed slightly reassured, for she simply stared at him a moment and broke into a wide smile. Lloyd raised an eyebrow. She was using that smile she used when she knew something she wasn't supposed to, yet was trying to hide the fact she knew anything. What did she know he didn't?

"... what?" Lloyd grinned back. "Do I have tomato juice on my face?"

"Oh, nothing." The cherubim chosen sat back on her heels on the foot of his bed and pointed at the pile. "Actually I could really use your help. You know that thing you found in Hima, the shiny, smooth thing with the funny lettering on it? I'm looking for that."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. So she was after that ring that assassin dropped back in Hima? He'd completely forgotten about it since that was right before the Tower of Salvation, but it's not like it was particularly important. Lloyd wandered over to the pile of his clothes, surveyed the heap and frowned. If he remembered correctly, he'd stuffed the ring into the front of his shirt pocket, but after he'd shrunk, had moved it to somewhere in the wingpack the others had made him carry around, since he wasn't allowed anywhere near the one that supplied the rheairds. He was lucky, since that was the only thing he had left from that near ambush, not to mention when Kratos had relieved him of his old attire for the new. It took him no time at all to locate the wing pack, which was lodged in a corner of his shorts pocket, so Lloyd wrenched the pack out of his shorts, flipped it open and dove a hand inside. The pack seemed to swallow Lloyd's arm as he reached around for the ring, but his efforts were not in vain.

"Was this what you were looking for?" Lloyd held up the tarnished old ring in his outstretched palm.

"That's it!" Colette clapped her hands together ecstatically and stretched out her petite paw. "Can I have it?"

"What?" The slight swordsman wrinkled his nose perplexedly, but dropped it into her hand anyway. "Uh... sure, but why do you want this piece of junk?"

"It's not a piece of junk." The compact chosen replied, turning the ring over in her palm and grinning at how it glinted against the sunlight coming in from the open terrace doors. "I know who it belongs to and I want to return it."

"You serious?" Lloyd asked bewilderedly while he scratched the back of his head. "Well, okay, if you found who it belongs to, then I guess it'd be right to give it back." As his scratching slowed, Lloyd's hand found itself trailing down his neck until it reached his shoulders. The second his palm brushed against the smooth surface of his shoulder's skin, his memory kicked into full gear and reminded him that not everyone in the room had shoulders smooth and scale free.

"Hey, Colette?" Lloyd glanced over at the blond haired chosen and suddenly felt superbly uncomfortable. Colette peered up from the ring in her palm, and tilted her head to the side, though the sock upon her head did not budge.

"What is it, Lloyd?"

"I'm really sorry my birthday present made you sick." The slender six year old cast his eyes onto the floorboards. "I was eavesdropping on Kratos and I heard him say that you got sick because of the keycrest I gave you." The tiny cherubim paused, then, with a determined frown on her face, trotted over to Lloyd's side and patted his shoulder.

"Lloyd, it's okay, you didn't know." Colette smiled sympathetically. "You were just trying to help me get my soul back and because of you, I did."

"That may be true, I guess, but I just wish I could do something to help." Lloyd refuted, the guilt really biting him in the lungs. "More than just cheering on, anyway." Colette's golden eyebrows furrowed against her deep blue eyes and she rested her chin on her fist in fierce thought.

"If you want to help, go with Mister Kratos and listen to everything he says, okay?" She suddenly suggested out of the blue. Lloyd stared at her. Colette had some weird ideas a lot of the time, but... where had that one come from and how was that going to help her condition?

"How's that gonna help?" He asked.

"Mister Kratos knows a lot, doesn't he?"

"Well, yeah, of course he does. He's an angel and a pretty big one to boot-"

"Exactly. So, if you listen to whatever he tells you and spend a lot of time with him, maybe you'll find something out that we'll miss." Colette continued. "So, you should just stick to Mister Kratos and spend a whole lot of time with him, okay?"

"So... you want me to spend a lot of time with Kratos and that'll help?"

"Oh, yes. I'm sure that will help." Colette bobbed her head up and down. Lloyd was less than convinced, but if Colette said so, he guessed she would know what would help or not.

"Er, okay. If you think that'd help, I'll do my best." He nodded in reluctant acquiescence. "Oh, hey, just out of curiosity, whose ring do you think it is? Because whoever it was attacked Kratos in Hima and got stabbed in the side."

Like a switch had been flipped, Colette's cheerful aptitude vanished and was replaced with large eyes widened in affrighted alarm and white knuckles clutching her newfound treasure.

"Oh. Um...well, uh... Igottagoseeyoulaterbye!" She squeaked, pivoted on her heel and darted for the stairs, the sock that had been on her head jettisoned into the air.

"Colette, wait-" Lloyd called after her, but it was too late. Colette was long gone, leaving only a cloud of dust and a sock on the floor in her wake.

"What's got into her?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow, but just shook his head and returned to his pile of laundry in search of the sock that hadn't ended up on the floor in Colette's whirlwind dash for the exit. Girls sure were strange. Lloyd wondered if he'd ever be able to understand why they did what they did. Probably not. Shrugging to himself, the slight swordsman retrieved his other sock from the pile, which had chosen to hide itself within the other pocket of his shorts. Why it had been there, he wasn't sure, but now that he had his socks back, he could start making some headway. With some effort, Lloyd hoisted himself onto the bed, turned his socks over and instantly wrinkled his nose in disgust when he saw the undersides.

"Aw man, my socks landed in tomato juice."

* * *

"You wished to speak with me?" Raine inquired as Yuan approached her, a large book held firmly in his grasp. Yuan had been incredibly reluctant to speak to her of all people, for she seemed the most watchful of Lloyd's cohorts and thus the most serious threat, but given the circumstances, he had little choice. Though, he had to say, her wearing one of Lloyd's old spare shirts like a dress certainly detracted from her usual prowess.

"Yes." The renegade seraphim nodded succinctly. "It is in regards to Col- the Chosen's condition." The petite professor gave him a distrustful eye, but folded her arms over her chest and waited.

"I'm listening."

The angelic turncoat frowned. How someone so young could look so stern and serious, he wasn't really sure, but she managed to pull it off and not look absolutely ridiculous. A tribute to her actual age, he supposed. Brushing that aside, Yuan quickly flipped open the book, turned the pages to the spot he'd marked with an aged leather bookmark and dropped the weighty text into Raine's grasp.

"She is suffering from Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium." He explained as the tiny teacher fumbled the ample tome in her small arms and latched both sides with barely any give in her limbs left. Raine peered down at the worn pages, her eyebrows shot upwards on her pale face and she instantly stared at him with a mixture of scrutiny and disbelief.

"She is what?" The half elf half pint repeated.

"I've encountered it before and there is no mistaking those scales that were described." Yuan replied stonily. "The cure is inside this book." Raine glanced down at the book once more, her periwinkle blue eyes narrowed as she read further down the page and she fixated a wary scowl at his head.

"Where would you have encountered such a rare infliction and even yet, where you would have gained such a text in such a short period of time?" She interrogated, obviously thinking this was far too convenient. Yuan mentally cursed. She was just as perceptive as he remembered, if not even more so. This former professor was indeed a threat to his personal life.

"That doesn't matter." He dismissed her inquiries with a flick of his wrist. "What is imperative is you use this. Read it and it will tell you what you need to know."

"Fine. I shall do as you suggest." The puny professor acquiesced in spite of herself and tightened her grip around the book. "But there is one thing I wish to know. Why are you assisting us? What do you possibly have to gain by helping us cure Colette?"

Yuan fell silent and his cerulean eyebrows creased against his emerald eyes. What did he have to gain by assisting them? At first glance, he had nothing that he could fathom that would cause him to help, but something... something told him that this course of action was the right thing to do. He wasn't sure what that something was, but the half elf renegade commander didn't think ignoring that sensation would be wise whatsoever.

"I... I have a debt to repay for being part of the cause of the tree going out of control. It is a first step to correct that mistake. Nothing more." He responded coldly and turned his back to her. "Do as you wish." Grasping the clasps of the nape of his cape in a stranglehold, Yuan strode out of the garden, and into the forest, his cloak billowing behind him with each step.

"And there he goes, slinking off into the forest again." Sheena murmured in a disapproving fashion as she approached Raine from behind. "Sometimes I wonder if he's ever done anything besides be sneaky."

"I highly doubt he has." Raine replied irritatedly.

"He'd be a good ninja, except the blue hair'd give him away. And the worst part, we didn't even get a chance to kick his ass for ambushing us like that in the middle of the Gaoracchia forest."

"Maybe the next time we cross paths, we can set aside some time."

"Here's hopin'."

"I'm back!" Both young ladies' heads pivoted to see Colette dashing towards them, her hands clasped together like she had found a baby mouse and wanted to take it with them again.

"Hiya, Colette. How are you feeling?" Sheena greeted cheerily. "What's that you got there?"

"Something... for Yuan." The cherubim chosen gasped between breaths. "Where... is he?"

"He left." The professor responded offhandedly, her nose deep in the book Yuan had bestowed upon her minutes before.

"No, he can't leave yet!" Colette cried desperately. "I have to give him something!"

"He's already long gone, Colette." Sheena clapped a hand on Colette's back. "You wouldn't be able to catch up with him the way he was moving."

"But I have to-"

"Don't worry about him. He'll show up again sooner or later. He's like a ponytailed roach that way." The ninja stretched out her limbs to the air and yawned, the sleeves from one of Lloyd's shirts collapsing into her torso like a limp accordion. "Just remember what you want to say and hold onto it."

"... okay." The tiny angel let out a dilapidated sigh and walked back towards Lloyd's house, her spare change of Lloyd's shirt scuffing across the dirt. She paused once she reached the door, glanced down at her cupped hands and looked back towards the forest.

"Don't worry." She whispered. "I'll take good care of your ring."

* * *

"You've got your comlink?"

"Yes, Professor."

"And your swords?"

"On my hips, Professor."

"And a fresh change of underwear?"

"_Professor!_"

"You'd better just let her dote on you, Lloyd." Genis grinned wolfishly. "If you don't, it'll be painful-OW!"

"I'm only checking things off that need to be checked." The professor scoffed at her brother, who clung to his head where a welt was forming. "And I expect you to keep up with your studies while you're away." Lloyd blanched and looked at his old teacher like she had just sentenced him to die by guillotine.

"You... you do?" He asked while his stomach curdled at the idea of having to study on his own.

"Yes."

"And uh.. how do you expect me to-"

"I've already gone over the details with Kratos. He shall explain it later."

"Oh." Lloyd blinked, looked at Genis and wrinkled his nose. "... I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Probably not." The halfling half elf shrugged and foisted a brightly colored square cube into his hands. "Here."

"What's this thing?" Lloyd asked, the cube cupped between his hands.

"It's a puzzle cube. Something to keep you busy if you can't sleep." Genis replied, scratching the back of his hair so it looked fluffier than before. "I can't figure it out just right, but you're good with your hands, so that'll keep you occupied."

"Oh. Thanks, Genis." Lloyd grinned, ruffled Genis hair and stuffed the brightly colored puzzle into his wingpack.

"You'll have a good time, Lloyd." Colette smiled reassuringly. "Mister Kratos is really serious, but he's a good person. Just learn what you can."

"I hope you're right." Lloyd beamed at everyone who had come to send him off. It was a very nice gesture they come to see him leave, but for some reason he couldn't get past how weird they all looked wearing spare changes of his old clothes. "I'm sorry I can't go with you all-"

"It's okay, you gotta do what you gotta do." Sheena grinned, her puff frilled out like a plume. "And you've still got the emergency rheiard we gave you in case anything gets dicey, right?"

"Yeah I got it." Lloyd patted the side of his wingpack. "Seriously guys, you sure all this is necessary?"

"Of course it is. You'd better keep an eye on the old man, Lloyd." Zelos folded his arms over his chest and shook his head at Lloyd's naivety. "I'm going commando thanks to him-"

"Wow, too much information-"

"-so that just proves he's capable of anything and playing dirty to boot. Watch your back."

"Yeah, okay then." Lloyd took a step away from Zelos and tried desperately to stave off the mental image he'd spawned. "And uh... you can keep the pants." Lloyd then felt his hand grasped, turned and saw Presea had clasped his hand in both of hers like she was praying, her virtually expressionless eyes boring a hole into the center of his skull.

"Good luck, Lloyd." The aloof axe girl wished him, her hands still clasping his like a bear trap. "Please try not to die before we meet again."

"Uh... thanks. You too, Presea." Lloyd gingerly removed his hand from her grip, and barely avoided a paper cut on his nose from the piece of paper that was being offered to him from Regal. After his eyes refocused, Lloyd took the paper from Regal, skimmed it over and raised an eyebrow.

"These are the emergency numbers to the Lezareno Company SWAT Team should anything arise. I've set aside a whole staff to assist you should anything happen."

Lloyd's nose wrinkled.

"What does 'SWAT' mean?"

"'Special Weapons and Tactics'."

"What the hell are you all expecting to happen?" He demanded, half horrified and yet half amused.

"We dunno, but given your record, it could be just about anything." Sheena shrugged. "We're just hedging your bets for you. Want me to have a summon spirit tail you?"

"No, I don't think that's necessary." The smothered swordsman shook his head.

"Really? 'Cause I could one of the Sylph to do it, or maybe the Mizuho Information Network can spare a few guys-"

"Guys, I'm gonna be fine." Lloyd held up his hands in surrender. "I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry so much."

Seven pairs of disbelieving eyes stared at him. Lloyd frowned.

"Don't look at me like that. I can so."

"We're only doing this because we're concerned, Lloyd." Raine told him sternly like she was chastising him for not turning in his homework on time. Nodding in agreement, Zelos reached forward, snagged Lloyd's arm and dragged him into a one armed head hug.

"And that's 'cause we love you." The chosen casanova cooed while flittering his fingers in Lloyd's rogue piece of hair so it brushed into his nose. Lloyd let out a resigned sigh and didn't try to fight Zelos' death grip. He'd learned the more he struggled, the tighter Zelos' hold became and he didn't really want to lose the circulation to his brain.

"... I know." He groaned tolerantly. After Zelos finally released him from his grip of love, Lloyd rubbed the sides of his head in an effort to get the blood flowing once more and readjusted his grip on the new swords Dirk had bestowed upon him to replace the set he'd lost.

"Okay, here I go." The thin swordsman huffed in a big breath and started towards the bridge where Kratos was waiting for him.

"Be careful, okay?" Colette called after his retreating form, her hands cupped over her mouth like she held a bullhorn.

"Call every day!" Genis piped.

"And night!" Sheena shouted just as loudly as the other two.

"Don't you go causin' more trouble than normal!" Dirk added from Noishe's pen.

"Bye guys!" Lloyd waved at the base of the bridge and trotted off after Kratos until both he and his newfound guardian disappeared into the brush. Once they were out of view, Sheena brushed at her puff with one hand and folded her arms over her chest.

"I'm sending a ninja squad after him anyway."

"Good call." Genis agreed.

"So, do you think we should follow Yuan's advice and do what the book instructs?" Regal asked Raine, who thumbed through the book with the best amount of dexterity she could muster without either dropping the book or falling over herself.

"Perhaps, but I would feel better if we went to see Altessa and got the diagnosis from him before we act. Besides, this book calls for a unicorn and to the extent of our knowledge, the last unicorn we found died. It will take too long to find the new one." She replied, shutting the book. "If this is truly what Yuan said it was, we can then use the book as a reference as we go. I'm guessing there is probably more than one way to fix this, but it's best to get a diagnosis before we act too rashly. We should go straight away, just to be safe."

"Yeah, if even he's perturbed, it's probably more serious than we thought." Her younger brother added as he let out a daunted breath. Sheena glanced between the two, nodded and ran her hand through her bangs.

"Hedging the bets again?" She asked Raine.

"Hedging the bets again."

"I have a question." Colette's hand shot up into the air.

"Colette, you do not need to raise your hand every time you have a question." Raine reached up and brought her former student's hand down. "Just ask."

"Oh, okay." Colette blinked. "What do hedges and bets have to do with each other? Do bets grow on hedges?"

Everyone stared at Colette and shared the same exasperated sideways glance.

"Er... never you mind." The petite professor patted Colette's shoulder. "It's merely a figure of speech."

"But I thought it was a hedge."

"Right... so let's get going to see Mithos!" Genis pumped his fist into the air, peered at his sister and brought his arm down, a sheepish look breeding on his face. "... and Altessa."

"Genis, you are very transparent." Presea commented, her voice blunt and devoid of inflection.

"Like a hedge?"

"Let it go, Colette." Zelos rested his arm over his shoulder and steered her away. "Let it go."

* * *

Kratos let out a shallow exhale as he gazed upon the panoramic plains of the Iselia region. The sun had just begun its descent into the horizon, sparkles of orange and yellow pouring through the sky in a swirled array of hues, and glinted softly against the emerald grass that carpeted the earth. Since Sylvarant's seals had been broken and mana flowed into the earth from Tethe'alla, the land had certainly taken a turn for the better. It was a breathtaking sight to be sure. At times he wondered why he let such a beautiful landscape fall into the clutches of Yggdrasill in the first place, but that would only be rehashing his guilt. He didn't wish the lovely picturesque world tainted with his dark thoughts, not now. Doing so would destroy how full of vitality the plains expelled in the encroaching darkness, never wavering, never flinching.

"... how far have we gotten again?"

Well, at least one thing was full of vitality around there. Biting back an exasperated grumble, Kratos peered over his shoulder and both eyebrows raised involuntarily.

Lloyd was barely holding onto his consciousness and it was clear he was trying with both hands and an imaginary grappling hook. The boy hadn't looked his best by any means when the seraph had first laid eyes on him in Iselia, but that was hours ago, and being awake never did much to improve one's sleep deprivation. His shoulders slumped into his chest as he shuffled along the beaten path and, even though he'd been the one to engage Kratos' attention initially, didn't even bother to meet the seraph's gaze. His head just hung limply with his chin bobbing against his chest with each step he took and his arms matching the flaccidity of his neck twofold. Kratos' eyes narrowed. He needed to sleep soon, otherwise Lloyd would fall prey to any lingering side effects of the ascension that still lilted about. That, or a fever.

The angelic lord halted his steady cadence and waited for Lloyd to do the same. However, Lloyd wasn't paying attention to Kratos' movements because he'd chosen at that moment to yawn. While in the midst of yawning his yawn, the enervated swordsman walked headlong into Kratos' leg, blinked languidly at it, peered up at Kratos and yawned at him.

Kratos met his dilapidated russet irises and took little time in spotting the dark purple circles underneath Lloyd's eyes. Be it the dark half moons beneath his bloodshot eyes, or the way he swayed dangerously in a dance with gravity, it was obvious he would not be long for the realm of the conscious.

"That's enough for now." Kratos stated, letting his hand on the hilt of his sword fall slack. "We'll continue after you've rested." Lloyd nodded drunkenly, wobbled over to the side of the path where some soft grass grew and flopped onto the lush greenery. With the exception of a short lunch break, they'd been walking the good part of six hours without stopping and the pace alone had taken more of it's fair share of his stamina. Once settled in the grass, Lloyd wrenched off his left shoe, stuffed a hand into it and pulled out three small pebbles the size of a marble.

"I see you didn't need to be told twice." The seraphim swordmaster commented lightly as he joined his charge in the meadow. Lloyd gave him a languorous scowl.

"I'm out of energy, I still can smell tomato on me and there're rocks in my shoe. You thought I'd need more reason to sit?" The sapped six year old asked listlessly as he stuffed his shoe back on his tiny foot. Kratos snorted softly under his breath. It seemed that even in a state of virtual exhaustion, Lloyd could still be just as succinct as ever.

"No, I suppose not." The angelic lord conceded. "You'll have more energy after you eat." Kratos wasted no time searching their supplies for something Lloyd could eat, which was good seeing as Lloyd was short on time as it was. Thankfully, Kratos had cabbage and pork on hand, so within building a fire and twenty minutes afterwards, two cabbage rolls on a plate were foisted under Lloyd's nose as an offering of sustenance.

Lloyd quietly murmured a 'thank you' and ate in reticent reserve, the only sounds biting the air being the flames licking about the fire pit and every so often the tearing of pork and cabbage. Kratos' eyes narrowed again as he observed the tiny boy consume his dinner. Usually, Lloyd held no qualms about devouring his food much like a rabid hyena would a decaying carcass, but he held no such vigor tonight. In fact, for his standards, it was downright morose.

"You are not engaged in your food." The seraph observed, "Is it not to your liking?" Lloyd glanced up from his second cabbage roll, blinked haggardly and shook his head.

"No, it's really good." He replied, setting down his plate down on the grass and rubbing at the side of his eye with his thumb. "I just feel like someone hit me with the broadside of a barn."

"Given the events over the past few days you've experienced, that is to be expected." The antiquated angel speculated softly. That in itself was most definitely accurate, if not an atrocious understatement. Given Lloyd's body was mutating right underneath his nose, his life was in more jeopardy than ever now that Yggdrasill was aware of his status as a child, and there was no reason Kratos could foresee that would allow him a reprieve, there was most certainly reason for exhaustion. In all truthfulness, Kratos was surprised the fatigue was not more severe.

Kratos glanced out of his brief diagnostic derivings when something nearby fell onto the ground with a flump. Upon further inspection, the seraphim swordsman realized Lloyd had situated himself at his side, deep cherrywood irises glazed over as he peered into the flames of the fire as if predicting the future. Kratos raised an eyebrow. Lloyd must've at some point decided talking across a campfire was no longer a desirable option and thus moved. Why he couldn't really fathom, but keeping Lloyd at close range would make his life considerably easier should they be attacked, so he opted not to question the slender six year old's motives.

"How come you let me come along with you?" Lloyd folded his arms around his knees in a crouched huddle, yet didn't take his eyes away from the fire. "You didn't try to talk me out of it or anything, and didn't say no, so I'm guessing you have a reason other than what you shared. Why?"

Kratos found himself slightly taken aback. That was strangely observant of Lloyd, especially without the aid of his friends.

"You're more astute than your friends give you credit." The angel responded lightly. "You would be correct in saying I have my own reasons."

Lloyd looked away from the campfire and raised an eyebrow.

"Like what?"

"Given the circumstances that have surrounded recent events, I wish to keep an eye on you to make sure any future disturbances are curtailed as much as possible." Kratos explained as he gazed into the fiery tendrils that licked around the stray kindling. "I'd rather Cruxis not have to deal with a crater where a major city used to be, if one of your abnormal episodes decides to make an appearance."

Lloyd scowled.

"I'm not a walking 'breaker', y'know." The six year old squirt grumbled into his arms while burying his nose into his sleeves. "I don't make the rules on the stuff that happens around me."

"All the more reason I wish to keep an eye on you."

"Very funny. What else?"

Kratos didn't want to venture into complex explanations just yet, but if Lloyd's questions went completely unanswered, he could potentially begin to question Kratos' true intentions and eventually distrust him altogether. That was something Kratos could not have. If he was to do as Dirk suggested and rekindle some sort of relationship with his son, he had to at least partially answer his questions without deception. A relationship had to be built on trust and trust had to be built on honesty. There was no way around it.

"Dirk requested I keep you within a close proximity." The seraphim replied, picking up a spare piece of kindling and tossing into the fire. At the mention of his father, Lloyd straightened up considerably and scooted closer to Kratos' side, cherrywood irises locked on the older man's face.

"What for? I can take care of myself." The tiny boy gestured to his swords he'd received from Dirk to replace his old pair for the time being.

"Not now you cannot." Kratos refuted. "You may not want to believe it, but you are in grave danger, more danger than you have ever faced. It is imperative you keep a low profile instead of running recklessly about, which will end with you in the strangled clutches of Yggdrasill."

Lloyd shuddered and drew his knees closer to his chest.

"That.. doesn't sound fun."

"It isn't. I wasn't being poetic." The seraphim swordmaster sighed sententiously. "Regardless, you have to capitulate for now and seek salvation until you widen your knowledge and fighting range. Your friends have realized this as well, for no other reason I can fathom would allow them to let you accompany me."

"You think they think so too?"

"Yes. Your friends and I are not on the best of terms-"

"Understatement of the century."

"-and so tension between us runs high. Only concern for your welfare would force them to swallow their pride and let you accompany an angel of Cruxis. Normally it would be suicide in their eyes, but it is either risking death with me or facing it head on with the Desians. The only dividing point is I intend to do you no harm, and they cannot guarantee that from the second option." The ancient angelic being reached for another piece of brush and dabbed at the fire's ashes. "Why else would they let you go with an emissary of Cruxis if not for no alternatives?"

Lloyd didn't reply. His eyes just drifted off to a patch of impending darkness and he took in a ragged breath. The seraphim figured he was sifting through the theory Kratos had presented, but didn't inquire further. They were Lloyd's thoughts after all and it wouldn't hurt him to figure it out on his own.

Sure enough, two minutes of heavy contemplation later, the slight swordsman dejectedly nodded to no one, allowed his left temple to fall into the basket of his arms and returned his focus to his older counterpart.

"I didn't see it at first, but now that I think about it, it does make sense." Lloyd acknowledged tiredly. "I just wish they told me."

"Most likely they were concerned of your reaction to being under someone else's thumb. Your love of freedom is well known." Kratos speculated offhandedly. Lloyd spared him a wayward glance.

"What do you mean? I wouldn't have bitten their heads off. I know it was my idea to come out here in the first place, but if they were all that worried about me, you'd have thought they'd have said something." Kratos regarded Lloyd briefly and nudged another piece of debris into the fire.

"Lloyd, you will find that sometimes people won't be as honest as they could be for fear the truth will put those for whom they care deeply in harm's way." The antiquated angel stated softly. "Your friends probably felt the truth would place you in greater danger should you reject their reasoning and thus decided to conceal it to ensure your safety."

Lloyd blinked.

"You mean they didn't tell me to protect me?"

"Yes. They do this because they do not wish to see you come to harm, even if it means doing what they would not otherwise. People will do... unbelievable things for the name of love."

"You think so?"

"I know so." Kratos brushed some dirt off his glove and faced his young charge. "So, do you realize now why they all wished for you to be here?"

"Yeah, I think I get it now." Lloyd let his chin rest on the flats of his forearms and looked back into the fire, eyebrows furrowed against his eyes. "I really hate the fact I have to go around and hide just because I can't take on whatever's out there looking for me, but I understand why I've gotta do it anyway."

"I just... feel helpless, I guess."

The seraphim nodded knowledgeably. Lloyd, being the independent creature that he was, loved being able to take the reigns in his own destiny, if one believed in free will, and try to manipulate his actions to a more desirable outcome for all. To not be able to take action in a situation that threatened his life and the safety of those he cared about would be absolute torture.

"What's got them all in a rut over my safety anyway?" The small scale six year old asked brusquely, chestnut eyebrows tapered into a fierce frown.

A dull ache in Kratos' sternum erupted like he was being split in two from the inside out. There was so much Kratos knew he had to impart about the situation as it stood, but he wasn't sure now was the most opportune moment. Lloyd was plainly feeling vulnerable and disclosing such heavy information could have detrimental effects on his psyche. Still, on the other hand, Lloyd deserved to know at least part of the situation. He argued with himself in silence until eventually his conscience beat down his logic and turned his eyes back onto the chestnut haired boy.

"Yggdrasill has become aware of your condition." He reported lacklusterly. "As he is an opportunistic individual, he decided to act when you were weakened and that is why you must hide."

"He knows?" The short swordsman at his side jolted upright. "I bet it was Pronyma. She saw me and must've told him."

"Most likely. However, the point is he knows and, as of the last time I checked, has already taken steps in an effort to dispose of you."

"He has?" Lloyd's forehead creased, the expression behind his eyes clearly showing he wasn't liking where this was going.

"Yes. As it stands, everything else has been put on a temporary hiatus until you are in his custody."

"Seriously?" The diminutive dual wielder sat back on his heels in bewilderment. "Exspheres and the whole works? Jeez, he really must be serious about this then."

Kratos snorted. If mobilizing an entire planet filled with minions to locate and destroy one little boy was what Lloyd considered 'serious', then yes, Yggdrasill was serious. He himself would have opted for 'completely moonstruck', but what did he know?

"Don't be surprised if I have to fight your way out of an entire town filled with Desians and an angel or two." He sighed as a few sparks from the fire hit the night air and crackled like the end of a whip. Chances were very high that any day now, they'd run into at least a platoon of Desians or worse, a platoon of angels, and if they discovered who Kratos was harboring, they could potentially run and gather more forces in an attempt to overpower the angel of death.

Though, as he tended to the fire, Kratos felt no anxiety towards that potential event whatsoever. No one ever got away from him, not unless he chose to let them go and he wasn't feeling particularly generous.

In fact, he found it rather odd they'd had no close encounters of the Desian kind lately, with the exception of Pronyma of course, and that was merely a coincidence. However, upon further speculation, Yggdrasill probably felt any blaring signs of covert activity might pique the seraph's interest and cause him to do a little snooping of his own, which could jeopardize his Lloyd hunting on an astronomical level. Kratos mentally smirked. If that overgrown preteen had any idea that Lloyd was the one place in the world he dared not search, Yggdrasill would flip a comet, in some ways literally.

Lloyd didn't notice the seraph's dark humor whatsoever, for he readjusted his grip on his legs and wrinkled his nose.

"What's so special about me?" The six year old squirt inquired crossly. "I'm nobody really important, not like Colette, and I don't have anything he wants except my exsphere and I thought they all dropped that search after Kvar bit it, so-"

"You stand in opposition to him. Only had a handful of people, the Renegades not withstanding, have done so and never so successfully, especially since those individuals didn't last long." Kratos responded exacerbatedly. How, after all he'd done for the world, could Lloyd ever think of himself as 'nobody really important'? Obviously his definitions were a tad askew.

From where he sat on the soft meadow's downy grass, Lloyd leaned back onto his hands and eyed Kratos with a healthy dose of scrutiny.

"...didn't last long?"

"No."

"What happened to them?"

Kratos glanced over his shoulder lusterlessly before turning his attention back to the fire.

"... just be happy I'm fond of you."

The air suddenly got deathly still. Having noticed the air's stagnation, Kratos glimpsed over his shoulder again and felt a stab of exasperation when he saw two large russet eyes staring back at him like he'd just kicked a bunny.

"Relax. I said I intend to do you no harm and I do not break my word." He replied while he pinched the bridge of his nose. "If Yggdrasill finds you, it will be through no help on my part." Lloyd didn't seem too convinced, but he did loosen up considerably and sheepishly cast his eyes back to the fire.

"... thanks." Lloyd muttered into his sleeves. "Hey, why are you helping me if you work for Yggdrasill? Aren't you supposed to show up at his beck and call like some sort of... what did Yuan call it... aw crud, I can't remember... it started with a 'D'..."

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"'Designated Domestic Doormat'?"

"Yeah, that's it." Lloyd punched his fist into his palm. "He then said some words in elvish I didn't get, but the professor blanched and clapped her hands over Genis' ears, so I'm guessing it was rude."

"I have my own reasons for allowing you to sift through his grasp for now. Do not question them." The aged angel replied coolly. "And as I said before, be happy I'm fond of you."

"Right, your reasons... I'll keep that in mind." Lloyd's eyes drifted back to the fire's light and he yawned.

"So it's that I won't let that jack wagon sacrifice people for any stupid reason that made him jump at the chance to off me." Lloyd glowered at his forearms and punched the ground next to his leg. "Argh, what a rancorous jerk."

'I'm impressed you're familiar with that word.' Kratos mulled, impressed at Lloyd's spontaneously advanced vernacular. 'There's hope for you yet.'

More than hope, if Kratos theories were correct. Lloyd was not dumb or by any means slow. From what he observed during their travels, the boy was quite adept at improvising and learned very quickly if he figured it out on his own. Lloyd could construct and deconstruct anything if explained the schematics of how the given subject functioned and picked up many different sword techniques very quickly and thoroughly, both feats no one of a compromised intellect could manage. If anything, his lack of factual knowledge could only be attributed to mediocre educational methods. Lloyd was not a visual or auditory learner. He was a tactile one and had to be taught in ways that incorporated his learning style, which Kratos planned to begin the instant they were in Tethe'alla. He couldn't allow his only son to walk around with a semi complete education, moreover he wouldn't allow it.

Another yawn broke through the air and the seraphim's teaching deliberations. The glint of the fire seemed to calm the physically young boy's mind into a lull, as the more Lloyd stared at it, the more he listed from side to side and his yawns came at closer intervals. If Kratos was going to say anything else, he ought to do so and quickly, for Lloyd was running out of energy and fast.

"Lloyd, there is something very important I need to discuss with you." The seraphim picked up a few pieces of wood and threw them into the fire. If he was going to explain what was happening to Lloyd's body, he needed to focus completely on the situation and he couldn't have his only source of light die out on him when he was attempting to explain the complexities of the angelic transformation. His senses may have been improved by his own angelic ascension, but under no means had he gained the power of night vision.

"What about?" Lloyd lifted his head to look at his older companion.

"I need to discuss the changes you are going through." Kratos replied as he discreetly shifted his weight so he could face Lloyd more easily. "I was only being partially truthful with you about why Yggdrasill is so intent on having you put to death or captured or both."

"Changes?" Lloyd repeated, his affect suddenly flat as a board.

"Yes. You have undoubtedly noticed that you are much different from your friends in many ways."

Lloyd's eyes cast to the ground and the rogue section of hair drifted into his face, doing nothing to conceal the slitted eyed glare he struck.

"I'm not THAT different. I'm normal enough." He muttered. Kratos sighed and ran a hand through his curtain of auburn hair.

"Lloyd, you may be normal in some ways, but in others you are far from it. There is no way you can't have noticed it. While inattentive at times, when it comes to your own self, you are very conscious and it's time you realized just why that is." Kratos continued, despite the seething shaking emanating from his charge. "You probably have noticed, but I highly doubt you know the reason why. Your abnormality is partly due to your-"

"I'm not abnormal!"

The seraph paused and raised one very threatening eyebrow.

"... what was that?"

".. um... nothing." Lloyd shuffled his petite shoes in the grass and poked at the ground with his fingers. Kratos was not assuaged. Lloyd didn't normally interrupt him, not without good reason. He'd learned a long time ago when on the Journey of Regeneration that interrupting pointlessly was a most distasteful decision, for it got him yelled at and set on dish duty for three nights straight.

"What is it, Lloyd?" He repeated, altering his tone to let Lloyd know there was no room for verbal evasion. Lloyd resumed poking the ground with his finger and grunted.

"Look, I already know, alright? He glowered at the ground. "I put on a good face for my friends and everything, but that doesn't mean I want to talk about it. So can we just not talk about this right now... or ever?"

"What are you talking about?" Kratos inquired humorlessly. Lloyd peered up from where he was watching his finger drill a hole into the earth and let out a exasperated huff of air.

"They told me the whole thing, Kratos." The frustrated first grader confessed, his large blood wood eyes meeting Kratos' own set. "Colette and the others told me about me and you and all of it. I know about what's been happening and _why_. I told them I didn't care, but.. just because I'd be a hypocrite if I said otherwise, doesn't mean I'm not one. So, don't call me abnormal like I'm some sort of freak." Lloyd folded his arms around his legs and sank his chin into his knees.

"That doesn't mean I have to like it either. So I don't want to talk about it."

Kratos' insides froze like a waterfall in Celsius' domain. He wasn't entirely sure exactly to what Lloyd was referring, but the more he dwelled on it, the less he liked it. Was Lloyd talking about his exsphere? That deemed to be an option, but like the others, Lloyd had no idea what kind of power he possessed upon the back of his hand. Only Rodyle or Kvar knew the complete schematics of their so called 'perfect exspheres' and they alone, and as both of their ranches were no longer accessible, thanks to a certain professor, the chances of that being his topic were beginning to dwindle.

So, what was it that caused him so much discord just at the mere mention of it?

He... Lloyd couldn't be possibly talking about... THAT, could he? No, that wasn't possible. It was absurd to think so. Kratos made absolutely sure there was no way he nor any of his friends had any idea of his paternal bond. Kratos had kept everything quiet, every little infinitesimal detail under wraps. There wasn't the slightest chance any single one of them had figured it out...

... wait.

One of them HAD figured it out.

Kratos blanched. She couldn't have told Lloyd, had she? Colette had promised she wouldn't and the cherubim chosen wasn't the type to lie. When they'd spoken last, Kratos hadn't felt any deceit emanating from her naive countenance either, but there was a possibility the others had drilled the answer right out of her the moment he'd left. Colette was sensitive enough, she wouldn't hold well under such intense interrogation from her dearest companions, so she could've snapped and let the secret slip. After all, there had been some spare time when he was gone, so it was possible that...

Lloyd knew who he really was.

The seraphim swordsman took in a deep breath and ran a hand through the curtain of auburn hair, which he was more grateful than ever he possessed. Thanks to its presence, Lloyd could not see the borderline panicked expression trying to break out from under his iron curtain of taciturnity.

"...Colette.. talked to you?" Kratos asked carefully while he employed four thousand years of honed calming techniques to keep himself on an even keel.

"Yeah, she and the others told me all about it while you were gone." Lloyd replied halfheartedly as he looked off to the side. "They told me everything."

Kratos' heart sank. So she had broken her word. Now everyone knew and once they knew, word would eventually get back to Yggdrasill he'd been in contact with them for longer than a mere sword squirmish. If he pieced together Kratos was passing information to them as well, he'd be locked in Derris Kharlan for the NEXT four thousand years and that was if he was lucky. If he wasn't so lucky, well, perhaps it was a good thing he was the Origin Seal after all.

Though, his main concern fell onto Lloyd. With Kratos out of the way, Lloyd would be virtually helpless. Nothing would stop Yggdrasill from swooping down, latching his talons into the boy like a trout and carrying him back to his lair for dinner. That itself scared Kratos more than he ever would admit, not for the fate of the world's reunification being compromised, but because his son's life would be forfeit.

"Did they specify on how they acquired such information?" The seraphim pressed serenely, yet he felt like he was sprinting a marathon underneath.

"Yeah." Lloyd retorted tersely. "It was Presea and Regal who figured it out first and then everyone else chimed in afterwards." He heaved a sigh and scratched at the side of his face.

"Everybody figured it out except me."

Kratos' pulse skyrocketed. He should have known better to let his guard down, even if it was someone as naive and well intentioned as Colette. They may have theorized all they wished, but only Colette could have added the decisive piece of evidence that would lead their findings to a definitive end. All of this because he'd had a lapse of judgment and hadn't fought tooth and nail to disprove her relation theory. In hindsight, he should have simply ignored her, brushed her off, said nothing. In the end, everything came back full circle to his own lack of attention and care.

So... if he put the situation together correctly, Lloyd knew about Kratos being his father and he wasn't taking it particularly well. Sure, it was better than the shrieks of denial he'd been expecting, but it was by no means a welcome. Kratos couldn't fault in him however. If he had been Lloyd in that same situation, he wouldn't have had anything short of a mental overload. It was certainly a feat of his self control to have been this stoic for this long.

"So they explained the situation to you, then." Kratos inquired taciturnly. His glare deepening, Lloyd nodded and poked his finger into the dirt.

"Yeah, they explained it alright." The short swordsman grunted into his arms. "Apparently, they'd all been thinking I wasn't normal this whole time and had been trying to figure it out. I just... I didn't know they'd all been paying attention to me like I'm some sort of bizarre fungus growing in a test tube. They think I'm abnormal too."

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Surely they didn't call you bizarre."

"Well... no, no they didn't, but the feeling was still there, y'know?" Lloyd sheepishly looked up out of his forearms. "I've always been one of the odd men out. And I've always been fine with that. Let's face it, I've never done all that well with any normal people."

Kratos bit back a chuckle. He'd never done well with anyone considered to be part of the standard walks of life either. Was that genetic? Perhaps.

"But, even when I'm around my friends, who aren't normal, I'm still the strange one. So when I'm the odd man out of the odd men... I guess I got really lonely." The slight six year old rubbed at the base of his neck.

"And when I found out... the people I'm actually one of are the people who I've been fighting against all this time..."

"I got even lonelier."

Kratos frowned and studied the boy beside him. The more he listened, the less it sounded like the cries of a boy who'd found out his father was a seraphim. Something wasn't right. Picking up a branch and consequently pitching it into the fire, Kratos decided to go out on a limb.

"Lloyd, this about you becoming an angel, isn't it?" The auburn haired angel briefly peered out the corner of his eye at the budding cherub.

"... yeah." Lloyd poked his finger into the dirt again and swirled it around a few blades of grass.

Kratos let out a sigh of relief. So Lloyd hadn't been found out just yet after all. That was good. Though... what was that dull ache brewing in the pit of his chest like he'd been hit with a sharp rock to the sternum? The seraph briskly ignored it and focused in on his distraught charge, since it was probably just indigestion anyway.

"Have you discussed this with your friends?" He inquired absently, hiding his substantial interest for the time being.

"No!" Lloyd shot back, but then shrank back into his shoulders. "Er... well, sort of. They asked me about it, and I said I'd be okay, but that's only because I said they were still them and I didn't want to sound like a hypocrite. I didn't want them to worry. I know I'm still me, but the whole idea of being an angel right out of the blue is just... stressing me out, I guess. I thought the worst thing I had to worry about in regards to myself was my little kid body, but now that's changing on me too."

"Do you know why you are changing into an angel?" The seraphim pressed on.

"Yeah, they said it was my special exsphere. It's not an exsphere at all, or at least not anymore. It's a Cruxis Crystal. That's what you tried to tell me before I interrupted, right?" Lloyd repeated tiredly. "Regal and Presea already figured it out and filled everyone else in. Presea was the other Angelus Project test subject, and Regal had some experience too, so between their knowledge, what the others knew, and that feather Presea picked up, they figured it out for me. I was the only clueless one in the bunch, so I feel pretty stupid right now."

"And if they knew, chances were really good you'd known for a while. That's why you let me tag along, right? Your secret reason?" Lloyd's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the older angel. "I'm onto you and your secrets."

'I highly doubt that.' Kratos responded in his mind, but didn't reply.

"Go on." The ancient angelic swordsman prompted, which Lloyd was all too happy to oblige.

"Well, I just... I'm even more the odd man out than ever. I just want to be Lloyd, just Lloyd. Not Lloyd, angel at large or Lloyd, angel on the run or even Lloyd, angel anything."

"Lloyd, did you ever think these things happen for a reason?" Kratos asked. Lloyd raised one very sarcastic eyebrow.

"Besides to annoy me?"

"Obviously. Everything happens for a reason, nothing is just chance."

"Are you going to say it's fate again?"

"And if I am?"

Lloyd hunched over his knees and hugged them to his chest.

"Then tell fate it sucks."

Kratos felt a stab of amusement at Lloyd's cross comment, but quickly shook it off so he could focus on improving his crotchety charge's mood.

"Lloyd, you do realize that just because your body is evolving into a higher state of functioning doesn't mean you have to join the ranks of Cruxis." The seraphim swordsman pointed out, as the fire crackled against some of the smoldering brush underneath the flames. Lloyd snorted.

"Of course I know that. That would be like saying all half elves have to join the Desians."

"Then what is really bothering you?"

Lloyd traced some dirt across the tips of his shoes and slumped his shoulders against his knees.

"I really want to put a good face on this and take it in stride, but I don't know how to go about doing that." The fatigued first grader admitted embarrassedly. "I really want to talk it over with my friends, but I don't want them to worry about me. Colette's really sick as it is and they have to hurry and get her better before she gets worse, so the last thing I want to do is distract them with my own dumb issues. So, I thought I could just keep it under wraps as best I could and try to sort it out on my own, but when you brought it up, that reminded me I'm not normal at all and probably have never been, and I couldn't talk to anybody about it, so that's why I kinda... exploded when you said I was abnormal. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"I'm not going to join Cruxis, no matter what, but at the same time, all of the angels I know of, with the exception of Colette, are Cruxians, so I really don't know what I'm supposed to make of it. I'm guessing my turning into one was a complete accident, but just because it was doesn't mean I can reverse it now. Still, now that I know I'm the only one who isn't a member of Cruxis, it's... it's kinda isolating. I'm the only one."

The antiquated angel regarded Lloyd briefly, before he closed his eyes, took a breath and gazed out onto the few stars that had just broken through the twilight's mask.

"Lloyd, I think I may understand what you are going through as of this moment." He spoke clearly, yet in a much softer tone than he usually employed. He normally never would have even considered discussing his inner emotions so freely, but it was plain to see Lloyd needed him to do this, so his normal private habits had to fall second in priority.

"You do?" Lloyd's head leaned to a confused tilt.

"Yes. Before I was in the employment of Cruxis, I traveled with three half elves for a very long time. During said travels, people found it rather strange to see a group of half elves who walked about freely without fear, and with a human no less. We were quite a group of 'odd men', as you put it, except one was a woman."

"You had half elf friends?"

"Yes, I did. They were all good friends, yet they were all half elves and I the only human. At times, I felt like I was the old one out as well."

"So there was a time before you were an angel?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, Lloyd. Angels are not born, they are made. You know that." Kratos responded exasperatedly. "However, while our circumstances may be different, I know that feeling of thinking no one can really understand what you are going through because the circumstances are so different. My case was... _is_ different from the other angels, so at times I experience the same emotion you do now."

"That feeling of isolated loneliness doesn't go away easily."

"What did you do to make it go away?" The chestnut haired boy asked, all his attention fixed on the older angel.

"In truth, it never really does. You have to work past it." Kratos responded as he folded his arms across his chest. "However, it is always helpful if your friends accept you regardless of your flaws, which you know they do."

"Oh." Lloyd clasped his hands over his ankles and stared down at them abashedly.

"You do know your friends will still stay your friends regardless of what you turn out to be, do you not?" Kratos prompted with one strategically raised eyebrow. "Does that bring you solace?"

"Yeah, I know." The slender swordsman scratched his forehead and sighed. "I know my friends are there for me, whatever happens, just like I'd be there for them. I guess the reason I got so defensive about my transformation thing or whatever you call it, was because I felt like no matter how hard I described it, no one would get what I meant and that made me kinda lonely and because I was lonely, I got really cranky. So, yeah, I guess I feel a little better... thanks."

"Think nothing of it. Everyone has moments of doubt, even if they've already helped others address the very same problem." Kratos replied lightly, his eyes locked on the stars above. Lloyd looked up at the stars too, but from what Kratos could see, wasn't put at ease.

"Kratos... I'm sorry I snapped at you." Lloyd apologized, his cheeks scarlet with shame. "I was just so frustrated about so much and-"

"I take no offense. You are still young and these things happen. It's better to get it out of your system now than allow it to fester for years to come." Kratos shook his head dismissively. "It's healthy to vent your frustrations."

"And if I... uh... have any more questions, can I ask you?"

Kratos glanced over his shoulder at Lloyd, nodded once and returned his gaze to the stars.

"You can ask me anything within reason."

"Within reason?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"What defines that?"

"I do."

For the first time all evening, the brunette boy's shoulders shook with stifled laughter as he tried to conceal his amusement. Kratos didn't comment on it, mostly because he didn't want to destroy Lloyd's rising good humor. It took him a minute or three, but the slim six year old eventually clamped down on his snickering and sat back on his heels.

"And you won't tell anybody about that, will you?" He questioned curiously, though Kratos could already sense the lingering feelings of apprehension emanating from his frame. "About the talk we just had?" The seraphim, though he didn't spare Lloyd a glance, raised an eyebrow anyway.

"Tell anyone about what?"

"About the... oh, oh okay. I get it." Lloyd began to say, but nodded as he fully understood what that meant. "Right... what conversation?"

The short six year old seemed much more at ease now that he'd finally been able to expel his frustrations out into the air, Kratos noted as he observed Lloyd stretch his arms over his head and yawn at the evening sky. For all his flaws, that was one thing Kratos envied of his paltry boy. He too wished he could vent his concerns as well, but he knew far too much, far too damaging information that could jeopardize his entire campaign and his chances at rekindling a relationship with Lloyd. So, for now he'd have to settle with merely being a sounding board for Lloyd to bounce his issues across.

"Hey, can I ask you a question now?" Lloyd's dulcet tones piped over the hissing of the fire's embers.

"You may, but I will decide whether or not I answer you." Kratos replied as he stared off into the marine hued night and closed his eyes.

"Okay, here goes." Lloyd cleared his throat and sat up on his heels.

"What do chicken wings have to do with flying?"

Kratos' eyes shot open.

"... what?"

"I know there has to be something to do with chicken wings because every single time I try to get my wings to come out, I end up thinking about barbecue. Now, what do hot wings have to do with it?"

Kratos blinked again, his mind completely blank. That... was probably one of the oddest questions anyone had ever asked him, and that was saying something. He'd been around many strange, highly unusual and in some cases, downright crazy individuals, all incredibly inquisitive, but none of them had ever asked him THAT.

"Lloyd, chickens don't fly."

"I know that." Lloyd retorted impatiently. "But what do chicken _wings_ have to do with angelly flying?"

"They don't have anything to do with the flight of angels and 'angelly' isn't a word."

"So why is it every time I try to summon my wings, I end up thinking about hot wings? And it should be. It's a good word, don'cha think?"

"Perhaps you were merely hungry at the time and no, no it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

"Oh really?" The chestnut haired former teenager raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Fine Mister Dictionary, what's a good word for it?" Kratos looked off to the side and began to think. After three minutes of deep contemplation, the seraph realized there really WASN'T a good word for accentuating the flight of anything angelic. A few choice words could do in a pinch, but nothing truly proper came to mind.

"... there isn't a word that I know of offhand that would best describe it."

"See? Angelly does work." Lloyd leaned back triumphantly with his weight on his palms. Kratos barely resisted the urge to ram his palm into his forehead and glanced exasperatedly at the smug six year old. Lloyd was too pleased with himself to notice the seraphim swordsman's exacerbated stare, for he stretched again, yawned into his hand and slumped his back onto the grass.

"Hey, I'm gonna lay down for a little bit. I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open." Lloyd grinned, the circles under his eyes more prominent than ever.

"I was about to suggest you do the same thing. You look exhausted." Kratos concurred. "I will wake you when it is time to move on." Lloyd nodded drowsily, rubbed the side of his face with his grass stained sleeve and surveyed the seraphim with half lidded eyes.

"Y'know, it's kinda funny." The miniature boy mused while he rocked his head back and forth against the arm he chose to use as a pillow. "Out of everybody I talked to, you made the most sense and I ended up relating to you the most."

"Strange, huh?"

Kratos regarded Lloyd, his gaze heavy and morose, and tore his eyes away to examine the dying fire.

"Yes... strange."

Well, g'night Kratos." Lloyd yawned, rolled over his side and within two minutes, was lost to the realm of the dreaming. Now once again alone, or at least in the world of the living, Kratos brushed his hand over his face and exhaled in relief.

That had been a close call. Too close for his taste. Still, he was most fortunate that was all it was and nothing troubling like Lloyd actually learning about his father this early on. Kratos had decided that after he had established a healthy bond of trust once more would he tell Lloyd everything. Lloyd becoming aware of their relationship too early could spell disaster for everyone involved and thus upset everything he'd put into motion thus far. So, thankfully he didn't need to worry about that just yet. Hopefully their little chat had sowed the seeds of trust needed to sprout a budding attachment that would germinate into a full fledged bond, if properly cared for and tended. Hopefully. He wasn't going to bet money on it, but Kratos hadn't given up hope just yet.

What was more troubling was the tight feeling in his chest that had cropped up the moment he realized Lloyd had not, in fact, found out about his true heritage. His first reaction should have been one of relief, not a squeezing, painful palpitation in his chest cavity near his heart that made his eyes water. The seraph glanced down at his chest and frowned. He'd have to keep an eye on that. Heart problems weren't a genetic condition in his family, but that was no reason to not keep a watchful eye over it anyway. Perhaps it was high cholesterol. No, that couldn't be it. Who ever heard of an angel who had to watch his fat intake?

Oh well, no sense worrying about pretend pains while creatures lurked about in the twilight waiting to cause both he and Lloyd real ones. With one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, Kratos gently placed his other hand on the side of Lloyd's sleeping head and peered around for any signs of movement.

'Nothing so far.' The seraphim swordmaster relinquished his stronghold on his sword, but didn't remove his hand from his son's head. Instead he found his fingers moving of their own volition, running back and forth between the soft tresses and flipping the occasional spike that strayed into their trajectory. For hair that stood up of its own accord, Lloyd's hair was surprisingly soft, much like the high quality silk used to weave women's clothing, and even more surprisingly enjoyable to play with. Lloyd didn't seem to mind all that much the sensation of his hair being mussed, for he simply smiled, muttered something under his breath and flipped over so his head landed precariously on Kratos left thigh.

Kratos jumped slightly at his new occupation as a child pillow, but eventually let himself relax when he noted Lloyd was in no way awake, nor cognizant of what he had done. He hadn't been expecting Lloyd to do such a infantile gesture in his sleep, but the boy's snoring quieted considerably now that his head was elevated, so perhaps it wasn't so bad after all. Lloyd's lack of snoring would certainly lower the attraction of stray monsters by at least half. As Kratos watched his son sleep peacefully while mumbling under his breath, a smile managed to creep out from behind his tempered fortress of stoicism, not that he noticed. He was too busy adjusting the rogue piece of Lloyd's hair out of his face and letting it drift back over the slumbering six year old's eyes.

'I wish I could explain more to you Lloyd, but now is not the right time.' Kratos mused sadly as he took the section of hair into his palm and twisted it carefully. 'Be patient. Once I've taught you all you need to know, then and only then will I impart to you the truth of who I am.'

'.. and maybe then.. you will come to terms with me.'

In all honesty, Kratos wanted to throw all of his preconditioned logic to the wind and impart to Lloyd everything right then, but he had to think what would be best for Lloyd and that was not by any means it. Lloyd needed to feel secure and safe, and not like his world had just been turned more upside down then it had been before, so now was most certainly not the time. If he found out now, it would only drive a thicker stake between them and if that happened, Kratos didn't know if he would be able to reestablish a bond. The whole situation was far too delicate to just manhandle. One misstep could spell disaster, so he had no choice but to tread lightly.

He was not going to allow his chance to be there for Lloyd as a father fall out from under him. Not this time.

Despite his wishes to continue ruminating off into the stars, Kratos had to focus on the present, more specifically, how he was going to get into Tethe'alla with Lloyd undetected. He had no rheaird to speak of, nor was he about to ask Yuan for one. Yuan already was in his debt for the favor Kratos had done by keeping quiet in regards to his role in the Tower of Salvation vs. Tree debacle and he wasn't ready to cash in on it just yet. That had to be saved for a special occasion. However, that meant the only way to transfer worlds was through the Tower of Salvation, and, as Lloyd was so well liked there, that could only spell smooth sailing.

Right, and Yuan and Yggdrasill held tea parties every other wednesday.

No matter what option he contemplated, all plans smelled like a recipe for destruction. The shed was out of the running as well, because the trip holding eight small natural disasters had worn it out considerably and someone had created a hole in the wall that suspiciously resembled Colette. In short, the shed was out of commission until he had the chance to board up that gaping crater in the side and he couldn't get the supplies needed until he was in _Tethe'alla_.

Great, a gigantic convoluted mess leading back to the same dead end.

'What am I supposed to do now?' Kratos grumpily let his chin sink into the pad of his palm. 'I can't very well walk in with him in plain sight, now can I?'

As if struck by lightning, the seraphim swordmaster's eyes widened and he stared off into the distance in a haze.

'... can I?'

Without any semblance of warning, Kratos dove a hand into the wingpack on his belt, pulled out his core system accessor and flipped it open. Positioning the flat panel of the metal accessor on the other unoccupied thigh, it didn't take him long to allow the core system to locate his terminal and sign into the main database. He then meticulously began to type as quickly as he could with one hand, all the while careful to balance the accessor on one thigh and Lloyd on the other, for he wished to disturb neither.

* * *

"We're here!" Genis vaulted off Presea's rheiard and bounded across the dirt path towards Altessa's modest home, his silver hair flouncing in the breeze. The small house carved out of the cliffs themselves was just as dusty as he remembered, though a few choice boulders now scattered the landscape, and Tabatha stood at the doorway, sweeping up the dirt off an imaginary doormat.

"HELLO. HOW MIGHT I ASSIST YOU?" The automaton paused her sweeping and bowed deeply to the paltry preschooler. Genis skidded to a halt, stared at her and laughed awkwardly, since in his rush he'd forgotten the last time they'd seen her, they were still relatively normal, at least on a physical level.

"Uh... Tabatha, it's us." He gestured to himself and the rest of his friends who had just touched down and were disembarking from their rheiards. "Y'know, Lloyd's group?"

"I DO NOT SEE LLOYD, NOR HIS COMPANIONS. YOU ARE ALL MUCH TOO SMALL." The humanoid doll replied confusedly. "PLEASE EXPLAIN."

"Er, uh... Hi Mithos!" Genis waved his arm as wildly as he could at the blonde haired boy, who sat just inside the window. He seemed to be fast at work with something, but the instant he looked up, his task was immediately defenestrated.

"Ge-Genis?" Mithos leaned out of the open window, his mouth agape like a banked trout. "What-what happened to you and... why are you wearing Lloyd's shirt?"

"I'll tell you when we get in. Can you tell Tabatha it's us?" Genis pointed to Tabatha, who eyed them both innocently as her sweeping kicked back up into full swing. "I don't think she believes me." Setting down whatever he was working on so it clattered against the tiled floor, Mithos stood up, craned his body so he half hung out of the window and pointed at the congregating group of brats.

"Tabatha, it's them. Even if they look funny, their mana signatures are the same." Mithos explained, palm outstretched. "There's no mistaking it." Tabatha regarded the golden haired half elf, but in the end smiled, pivoted to the now fully assembled pack of prepubescent pixies and beamed at them in her mechanized best.

"SO WHAT HE SAYS IS TRUE. IT IS SO LOVELY TO SEE YOU ALL, THEN." The clockwork doll greeted warmly, or at least as warmly as a nonliving being could be. "YOU ARE ALL IN LUCK. DINNER PREPARATIONS ARE ALMOST COMPLETE AND I LUCKILY MADE EXTRA."

"Sweet, I'm starving!" Zelos pumped a fist into the air as he hopped off Regal's rheiard. Sheena, who thus resorted to sharing a rheiard with Colette, frowned disapprovingly at him and folded her arms against her chest.

"You shouldn't be, you ate all my seaweed crackers." She scoffed. Zelos looked over at her and shrugged.

"That was just an in-flight snack."

Mithos quickly opened the door so everyone could enter and sported a perplexed expression as they all marched into the room, his eyes growing rounder every time someone new walked past.

"It's great to see you, but what happened to all of you?" He asked incredulously, mussing the side of his yellow head with his hand. "And what's with all of you wearing Lloyd's clothes?" Zelos looked down at his attire, scowled and glared at the wall.

"An evil old man, a hose and a mob." He grumped. "That's all that needs to be said."

Mithos blinked bewilderedly, and turned to Genis to explain the joke he obviously missed. Genis peered back at Mithos, laughed uncomfortably again and rubbed the back of his head.

"It's a long story." The petite preschooler grinned, his cheeks pink with chagrin. "It'll take a while."

"That's okay." Mithos wandered over to the stool he'd previously sat upon and picked up a decrepit old pail that had some tan putty smeared across the outside. "I was just mending the water bucket. Darn thing sprung a leak."

"ALL OVER MITHOS' PANTS."

"... uh... yeah." Mithos flushed and set the bucket down. Taking the hint not to comment, the other seven quickly flooded onto the benches on the sides of Altessa's kitchen table and regaled Mithos with the stories of what had befallen them, although they presented an extremely abridged version. Genis would have liked to have told Mithos the whole thing, but Raine made him promise he'd spare anyone the details for fear Lloyd could wind up in danger should they have loose lips.

"Wow. Even though it seems like only yesterday I saw you all, I've missed so much." Mithos breathed in awe, his cheek rested on his bony palm. "I still can't believe the world came this close to dying just like that."

"Yeah, we're just lucky we had help-" Genis piped, but his sister's hand clamped down on his shoulder and squeezed distressingly tight.

"Genis, watch it." Raine warned.

"'Help'?" Mithos blinked and caulked his head to the side. "What kind of help?"

"It doesn't matter." The thin professor dismissed after Genis shook off her hand and glared at her. "It's moot now."

"Oh... okay. I understand." The only teenager left in the room nodded acquiescently, his shoulders slack. Genis frowned. He could see why Raine and his friends didn't want him to talk too much about Lloyd because Lloyd could get hurt, but this was Mithos. Mithos was his friend and he was Lloyd's friend too. It wasn't like _he_ was a threat. He got attacked by a bucket, and the bucket had even won.

"Now that's cleared up, what do you need?" Altessa called from inside his work den. The house was pretty small, so word didn't have to be very loud to travel fast. "You didn't come all this way out here for a friendly chat, I'm guessing."

"Actually..." They quickly broke into a rushed explanation on what Lloyd's botched keycrest had inadvertently done to Colette's body, which resulted in Tabatha almost dropping her ladle, a serious frown from Altessa and an expression of absolute horror and shock from Mithos, complete with a twitchy eye.

"I see." The grey bearded dwarf emerged from his work station and rolled up his sleeves. "Well, let's get a look." As she was so tiny, the expert craftsman had no problem setting Colette on a stool and pushed up her gigantic rolled sleeves so the green and blue scales shown forth. He examined it briefly, sighed and let the sleeve drop back down.

"Well, as for what shrank all of you, you'd be better off asking the elves. I work with metal and ore, not mana. But I can tell you this. It doesn't take much to know that it wasn't a chance fluke. Someone or something messed with it. I don't know if it's dangerous or not, but take it up with an elf or two if you come across them anyway." Altessa addressed them firmly. "And as for what she's got, she's got herself a nasty infection from that keycrest. Normally the charm wouldn't have done anything but give her life again, but it looks like her skin reacted to it and began to crystallize itself as some sort of defense. It's a rare condition, but I'd wager it's Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium."

"Just like Yuan said." The Professor murmured under her breath.

"It.. it is?" All heads swiveled towards Mithos, who sat in his seat with a sickly pallor that made his normally pale skin seem rosy.

"Have you heard of it, Mithos?" Genis asked.

"Um... once. My sister told me about it." Mithos elucidated. "It was in a story she told me about from the hero 'Mithos'. I think that one of his friends got sick with that. Y'know there're some displays at Sybak about Mithos and his companions. You should check there; maybe there will be more details on it. I could go with you too, if you'd like."

Mithos would be coming along with them again? Genis' eyes brightened. He'd been a surly mood ever since Lloyd had left, but if Mithos was there, he wouldn't be nearly as lonely. The others were great, but no real substitute for guys near his own age to hang around with, though it was more of a mind than body thing now. He didn't actually want to spend time with real four year olds.

"That's a great idea!" The silver haired half elf chirped. "Can we, Sis?" His sister thought it over and sighed once she noticed the humongous set of puppy eyes being sent her way from the trifling tot.

"Alright, but before that we should let Colette rest for the night." The Professor finally relented. "We did leave abruptly from Dirk's and she hasn't had a chance to properly rest. Besides I want to look at that textbook before we do anything else."

Sheena shook her head and smiled tiredly.

"Typical Raine."

"Yes!" Genis pumped his fist into the air and beamed at Mithos. "You hear that, Mithos? She said yes!"

"Yeah!" Mithos grinned excitedly too, but stopped, peered from side to side, counted them all mutely and frowned.

"By the way, where's Lloyd?" He inquired curiously. "Wasn't he with you earlier?" Everyone fell silent, exchanged wayward glances and swiveled their eyes away. Some gazed at the floor, others the ceiling, the walls, but none wanted to meet Mithos' querying stare.

"He was, but he had to leave." Presea replied finally, shattering the awkward pause.

"Why?"

"He had to because he's-"

"Genis!" Raine snapped and whacked her brother on the back of the head with the flat of her palm.

"What? I wasn't gonna say anything specific!" Genis squalled back at her, his head feeling like it was on fire. He then readied his verbal cannons to add a particularly smart remark, but was cut off when his nose caught wind of a smell. A wonderful, most luxurious smell emanating from the direction of the kitchen that got stronger like it was actually coming closer with each passing second.

In truth, it was. Just not by itself.

"PARDON, BUT THE FOOD IS DONE COOKING. ARE YOU ALL READY TO EAT OR SHALL I PUT IT ON WARM?" Tabatha segwayed into the room, her arms laden with a gigantic stoneware pot of stew.

"Discussion over, food now." Zelos propped himself up and sent a gleaming grin towards both the automaton and the stew she carried.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Sheena agreed, her eyes leering just as heavily at the soup as Zelos'. Everyone else seemed to agree, for they abandoned their squabble for the food and within two minutes had completely forgotten it had even happened in the first place.

Well, almost everyone.

Genis sat in his seat next to Mithos and swirled his half eaten soup around with his spoon. Everyone was being really dumb, not to mention downright silly. He knew the whole situation with Lloyd was serious, but they didn't have to go around acting like everyone and their grandmothers were out for Lloyd's blood. They were all paranoid or crazy. He just wasn't sure which-

"Hey, Genis?"

Genis felt a hand rest on his shoulder and peered up to see Mithos watching him intently.

"Can I talk to you in private?"

Genis nodded, got up from his seat on the pretenses he wanted some fresh air and followed Mithos out into the crisp night. Mithos seemed more hushed than before, Genis noted as he watched his only half elf friend gaze off into the distance. He'd been awfully reserved ever since dinner, but from the way he was standing, it was plain something was on his mind.

"So, uh, what did you want to talk to me about?" The minuscule mage asked while he rubbed his arms up and down to try and stave off the chilly humidity the minor rain shower had imbued into the atmosphere. Mithos glimpsed over his thin shoulder at Genis, smiled and pivoted so they were facing one another.

"Is Lloyd okay?" The blonde half elf asked out of the blue, his voice wracked with concern. "You all sounded kind of nervous and I was just curious-"

"Is that it?" Genis cracked a smile and shook his head. "Lloyd's just fine, don't worry. We're just not supposed to talk about it in front of other people."

Mithos didn't look any less comforted. In fact, he looked worse.

"'Other people'?" He repeated. "Why?"

Genis fidgeted underneath Mithos' focus. Why indeed. This whole thing about not talking about Lloyd in front of other people was just stupid. Plus, why did Mithos have to be 'other people'? Genis always hated it when he was excluded from anything, be it his age, his race or whatever, and he was not about to do the exact same thing to his friend, who probably felt the same way he did as a fellow half elf. It wasn't fair.

"I know I'm not supposed to, but... well, it is YOU, so it'll be okay." Genis grinned and sat down on one of the flat rocks surrounding Altessa's front yard. The elder of the two quickly joined him on the rocks and adopted a pose prime for listening.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise." Mithos held out his finger in a pinky swear. Genis couldn't help but laugh at the seemingly juvenile gesture, but quickly latched his own puny pinky in a quick swear and let go anyway. Mithos was so silly sometimes.

"Well, Lloyd got himself into a heap of trouble with the Desians." He began soberly, his palms flat against the fabric of his borrowed gray pants.

"Those half elves terrorizing the other world?"

"Yeah, them, and apparently they're all after Lloyd because his exsphere went crazy and gave him a big boost of power." Genis spanned out his arms as far as they could go. "I'd tell you more details, but you'd think I was crazy."

Mithos frowned and put his hand on Genis' shoulder.

"Genis, I would never think you're crazy." The blonde boy shook his head, his face radiating sincerity. "You're the only half elf friend I've ever had around my age. I completely believe you." Genis eyed Mithos momentarily, his eyebrows furrowed and then nodded.

"Okay, but don't tell anybody." He quickly gandered around to make sure none of his friends were in the immediate area to catch him in divulging a secret or two and then when he realized the coast was clear, leaned in so all he had to do was whisper. "See, Lloyd morphed into an angel thanks to his exsphere."

Mithos' face went blank.

"He... _he did_?"

"Yeah, sort of. He had a bunch of mana explode out of his back like a volcano, nothing too concrete, but that's what my sister and the others figured. Apparently it's just a matter of time he turns all the way, wings and the whole package."

"And that's why he went away from you all? So they wouldn't find him?"

"Yeah."

"Did he... tell you where he was going?" Mithos pressed intriguedly. The silver haired sorcerer shook his head.

"Nope, he wasn't supposed to." Genis explained. "That way, if we get caught, we won't give the location away, just in case we get interrogated or something." Mithos sat back on the rock so his hands caught some of his weight, gazed off into the sky as if mulling something back and forth and cast his eyes back onto his younger companion.

"Yeah, I could see that making sense. Thanks Genis. I really appreciate you filling me in." The blonde half elf beamed graciously. "I felt kinda left out, because I can't fight with you all, but now I feel more included."

"No problem. That's what friends are for." Genis grinned back and playfully nudged Mithos in the arm with his fist.

"Yeah, friends." Mithos repeated softly as he massaged his pseudo injured arm. Laughing, the scanty spell caster jumped down from the rock and caught wind of the most delectable aroma wafting out from the door crack.

"I'm gonna head in. I smell dessert." The half pint half elf sniffed the air and grinned wolfishly, the stew having long since left him famished and yearning for more. "You coming?"

Mithos got up from his spot on the rock, but didn't follow. He just stared at the ground like a statue, eyebrows creased against his sapphire eyes. Noticing the lack of friend in his wake, Genis raised an eyebrow and ceased his journey for cake.

"... Mithos?"

"... hey, Genis?" Mithos tore his eyes off the ground and locked them onto the younger half elf like a guided missile.

"Hm?" Genis tilted his head to an angle. "What is it?"

"What if I told you... I might know a way to turn you back to normal."

* * *

**Whew, it's finally done.**

**Genis: Hey, didn't you finish this a few days ago?**

**Me: Yeah, but I wanted to update after Tales of Festival had its run just in case they had some amazing news about anything ToS related, and it's a good thing I did. I can has news. **

**Genis: What kind of news?**

**Me: The awesome kind. They just announced the name of the theme song for the new arc, HONTO USO. It isn't spelled precisely like that in the way they had it, but I'm not sure how to put dots in between each syllable like they did. The computer keys hate me in that regard. Still, note that it does have dots in between syllables in case you decide to search. I don't know, but that may effect your efforts.**

**Anywho, the artist's name behind the theme is 'Me', not _me_ personally and I can tell this is gonna get confusing, and the title can be roughly translated into 'True Lie' or 'Real Lie'. So, if the song's title contradicts itself and we haven't even heard the song yet, this bodes very intriguing developments for the animation in question. **

**Speaking of developments, the first episode of the United World Arc is supposedly slanted to appear this fall, but if you recall, the fourth episode was supposed to be holiday and it showed up in February. So, we could get this by Christmas for all I know.**

**Lloyd: Oh. So are you going to start writing a new chapter now?**

**Me: Oh, I'm already in the midst of that. However, before I leave, I wish to discuss something else that has been brought to my attention. ****I have recently become aware that Tales of the Abyss is coming to the 3DS, for both a japanese and a north american/european release.**

**Lloyd: Okay. So?**

**Me: Well, you see, TotA was made two years AFTER Tales of Symphonia and yet is perfectly capable of being ported to the latest handheld. So, logic would dictate that Tales of Symphonia would, in theory, **_**also**_** be capable of being ported to said handheld console.**

**So, to the people of Namco, this I say to you.**

**Your move.**

**Please review.**


	25. Clandestine Conspiracies

**Hello again everyone. I apologize for the long time it's been since I last updated, but it couldn't be helped. I could source a bad case of writer's block, but if that had been it, I would have been lucky. No, no, for the past couple months I've been battling a computer that threatened to burst into flames, weather that threatened to burst ME into flames and me flaming them both throughout. However, the first has been temporarily rectified and the other shall do so once autumn descends, so I'm hoping for the best.**

**So, gratitude for everyone who reviewed, alerted and so forth, along with ImJustNutty, MenrowSpirit, Kiomori, Celestial Dream Weaver, Link Fangirl01, AngelofaWhiteNight, AyndeRod, freakyanimegal, ChibiWolf86, The RPers HELL group, Dreaming of Blue, ThePurpleRose, Kisa167, kuroXIII, DragonHeart44, CrimsonButterfly94, WhatAmISupposedToWriteHere, skye96 for both reviews, Purple Pallbearer, THE AMBASSADOR OF HUGS and Vesperia Lover for reviewing. I really love that you all take the time to give me praise and feedback. It always makes writing even more of a joy than it already is.**

**Now, enough of my prattle, let's get on with it.**

**If you think I have any ownership over ToS, you are sadly mistaken. So no suing me.**

Chapter Twenty Five: Clandestine Conspiracies

Not until the moon was well past the midnight mark did Lloyd stir. His initial grunt signifying his arrival back into the world of the living was muffled by the arm he'd draped over his eyes in his sleep. Grunting again, he let his arm sag flaccidly onto the cool grass and pried one eye open. His redwood eyes scanned around in a fog as he gained more of a grip on consciousness and eventually settled on the blurry image of one angelic warlord, who had taken the opportunity to fire up his miniature compact. Kratos peered away from his accessor's screen, having felt the non- corporeal gaze settle on his face, and shifted so he could see Lloyd's upside down visage watching him from where his head laid on Kratos' thigh that much better.

"Morning." Lloyd yawned, sat up and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. Kratos sighed, shook his head and went back to his accessor. Lloyd was so exhausted, he had no idea he'd just spent the good part of four hours out for the count, not to mention what, or rather _who_, he'd chosen as a makeshift pillow. While deep down he found Lloyd's unconscious decision rather amusing, he opted not to let the boy in on the secret, for all that would do would be embarrass him beyond all measure.

"Lloyd, you've only been asleep for a few hours." The seraphim responded candidly, tapping the cursor pad with his forefinger. "It's still the evening."

"Oh. Er... yeah, I knew that." Lloyd's cheeks glowed pink and he scratched the back of his head in what he deemed to be an effective way to deter his blunder from the public eye. Kratos spared him another glance out of the corner of his peripheral vision, and quickly slanted his attention back to the screen. The screen blinked blue for a second and then quickly filled with text in a long forgotten language at a speed that would have boggled his mind had he not been acclimated. A long time ago, he'd not been very fond of magitechnology, but over the years he'd grown to accept there was no way he'd be able to avoid it. So, there wasn't much point in trying to live without it, though from what he saw, the people of the declining world did so well enough, but generally not with the ease of those who possessed it.

Still, as the accessor completed its loading and Kratos skimmed over the text, a deeply buried section of his soul wanted to take a hammer to it. Despite his efforts of checking the announcement boards every five minutes for the entire duration of Lloyd's slumber, there had been no sign of Yggdrasill's master plans in regards to Lloyd, or whatever he deemed them to be, so that had yielded little. The seraphim knew it wasn't the fault of the accessor in question, but that didn't assuage him much and vengeance against all things magitechnological appealed more by the second.

'Yggdrasill seems to be more secretive than I remember him to be. He's probably pulling out every stop to assure I don't become aware of his plans.' Kratos groused, his internal tone highly ill tempered. 'I don't know what offends me more, the fact he's trying to kill my only son, or the fact he thinks I'm imbecilic enough not to notice.'

"What are you looking at on there?"

Kratos attention shot to the source of the voice, who'd at some point when he was immersed in his thoughts decided to glance over his arm at the screen. Lloyd craned his neck as far as he could to see the screen in full detail, but that wasn't very far and he eventually settled to stepping behind Kratos and reading over his shoulder with his chin perched on said shoulder.

"I'm checking on the status of the Derris Kharlan core system." Kratos replied stiffly as he fought the urge to drop his shoulder and Lloyd along with it, gravity permitting.

"What's it say?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"Nothing of importance."

"Oh really?" The six year old squirt eyed Kratos skeptically and turned his eyes back to the monitor. "I bet there's tons of secrets on that page. All sorts of neat stuff."

'Actually, it's just a reminder the southern district of Welgaia is being cleaned, so everyone must migrate to the northern half if they do not want to be doused in soap.' Kratos mused sardonically as he scrolled to the top and closed the window. 'But for some reason, I highly doubt you'd believe me.'

"Hey, that's me again!" Lloyd foisted an arm over Kratos' shoulder and thrust one finger at the screen. Slightly perplexed, the seraphim followed the phalange back to the screen, which should have been blank...

... but fate had taken that moment to kick him in the knee.

It was true he had successfully exited out of the main connection page for the Derris

Kharlan Core System, but he'd forgotten about the window he'd left up lingering just behind the first panel. To top off his rotten luck, the page was Lloyd's profile. Kratos had hoped to find something of a clue to Yggdrasill's latest schemes, but like everything else to which he was privy, there was nothing of use whatsoever. Upon realizing his futility on that particular page, he thought he'd shut down the window and progressed to the next source.

Apparently he thought wrong.

"Yes, it is." The seraphim relented exhaustedly while he ran a hand through his hair. His first instinct had been to deny the claim, but he couldn't very well do that if A, he was to be honest as he could with Lloyd and B, it had Lloyd's picture on the top section of the page. The fabrication would be anything but believable. There was no point in wasting creative energy.

"I thought so. It had my picture and everything." Lloyd beamed triumphantly and let his chin sag on Kratos' broad shoulder so it gave the impression the antiquated angel had sprouted another, much more talkative head. "Hey, just out of curiosity, what's it say about me on there? Anything good?"

"Mostly a physical description, along with a brief personality profile and picture of your former self." The seraphim summarized as he quickly scanned across the page. The profile had indeed more on the boy, but Kratos didn't feel it necessary to divulge the intricate detailing of Lloyd's profile as written by Cruxis. For some reason, letting his son know that the first sentence described him as 'A spiky haired, snot nosed, abrasive punk with a penchant for sticking his nose where it did not belong' didn't sit well. Lloyd might think it funny, but he probably wouldn't like the later paragraphs saying that his wanted poster from Triet was a perfect depiction and why he had not been turned in was yet to be discovered. That alone would probably dishearten the boy, or at the very least depress him to some level.

Kratos sighed to himself as he continued letting his eyes trail down the page. Whoever wrote the report certainly hadn't been having a nice day. That, or Yuan got stuck writing the MOs again and decided to exercise his artistic license.

"... oh." Lloyd's shoulders and enthusiasm slumped.

"What was it you wished to find, if I may ask?" The seraphim inquired. It was unlike Lloyd to not have a reason for suddenly losing his vivacity, and if the times in the past were anything to go by, there was ALWAYS a reason for it. What was bothering the boy _now_?

Lloyd removed his weight from Kratos' shoulder, shuffled his shoes into the grass and sat down, hands clasped over his ankles.

"Does it... have anything about my parents on there?" The slender swordsman asked, his voice and eyes filled with apprehension and hope. Kratos blinked at Lloyd's sudden hope ridden request and glanced to the monitor.

"I do not believe there is anything specific entailing your father, as his dwarven clan chose to not serve Cruxis-"

"No, not Dad." Lloyd interjected, waving his hand back and forth. "I mean... my real parents."

Kratos paused his search on the database and looked up from the screen.

"'Your real parents'?" The seraphim repeated. Lloyd nodded seriously, his chestnut eyebrows tapered down in a sober crease. Kratos sat back and took in a solid breath. So Lloyd was interested in learning more of his original parents, was he? That certainly was... sudden.

The antiquated angel pinched the bridge of his nose and ran a hand through the curtain of auburn hair masking half his face. In retrospect, that really shouldn't have surprised him. Colette had hinted Lloyd would be most intrigued at the mention of his pedigree when they last spoke, as did Dirk, but for what purpose did he ask _him_? It wasn't as if Lloyd had figured out their connection, he'd learned that the hard way a few hours before, but to brazenly ask out of the blue? There had to be another reason as to what drove him to such a course of action.

Perhaps Lloyd hoped to find some small speck of information within the archives that Cruxis held onto for a rainy day. Kratos snorted. Lloyd could hope all he wanted, but he wouldn't find anything like that on the database. Cruxis might've liked to keep an eye on subjects who might've posed a threat, but there were no such files that depicted a play by play on their genealogies if they weren't Chosens. The genetic history of a mere human, which he was physically at the time of the archival creation, wouldn't interest them in the slightest. If there had been any special indication or note, it would have been cataloged the moment of it's creation.

Cruxis may have been sadistic, amoral and governed by a lunatic who should have long since been locked in an asylum for the mentally deranged, but if anything, it was efficient.

Besides, even if there had been such an archive, Yggdrasill would have kept the entire thing under incredibly high encryptions that would be accessible to him and him only. He had been more than sore about the whole ordeal surrounding Lloyd's origins and, if Kratos guessed correctly, he would eat his own jumpsuit before he let out the secret that he'd failed to control his own Origin Seal, who then in turn decided to add to the surplus population and with a run of the mill _human_ no less.

'How _embarrassing_ for him.' The seraphim snarked bitterly. A cough segwayed an intermission into Kratos' intellectualizations and his eyes quickly refocused on the boy in front of him he'd been staring at intently for the past five minutes, albeit absently. As a result, said boy had developed a moderate case of the fidgets.

"Why are you asking?" The seraphim inquired stiffly, his eyes unyielding just like the grip

he had on his accessor. Lloyd sifted a hand through his own hair, much like Kratos had done moments prior, squared his shoulders and met the seraphim swordsman's unabated gaze.

"Dad's great and all, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious." The slender six year old continued warbly as his fidgets began to die away. "I really want to learn about them and if Cruxis has so much information that they can put up a profile of me, then I bet there's something about my folks in there too. If anyone knows, it's gotta be them.. er.. you guys. I normally wouldn't ask, but if... if there's a chance that thing might know something, I can't just ignore it."

Ah, so his musing had been right. Stifling a sigh, Kratos let his eyes meander back to the screen and shook his head.

"Lloyd, what you're asking for is something I do not believe the core system has in its databanks." He replied stonily while he closed another window with a swift motion of his wrist. That in itself was true. There would be nothing on the core system that Lloyd could use, or at least, nothing about that particular subject, and even if there was, Lloyd wouldn't have been able to read it anyway. So, in a sense, Kratos was telling the truth. He was just... omitting he knew everything there was to know about Lloyd's parentage.

But he wasn't lying. That was the important thing.

However, as he allowed himself another glance at his son, Kratos noted Lloyd wasn't by any means deterred by the looming prospect of no pot of information at the end of the rainbow. In fact, the seraph had, once more and without his knowledge no less, unwittingly gained a new shoulder ornament. Apparently Lloyd missed peering over his shoulder so much he'd come back to visit.

"I'll take whatever it's got, I don't care how small or unimportant it may seem, that's better than nothing. I don't care what it is, I'll take it." The skinny boy pleaded with all he had, his large blood wood orbs staring desperately into the angel's face, the wink of his petite nose now about an inch away from Kratos' own. "Kratos... please?"

The archaic angel met Lloyd's desperate gaze, silently groaned and set the accessor down on the ground, the dated picture of Lloyd still glazed on the screen.

'.. you have no idea how much you're tormenting me, do you?' He groused unhappily while the full weight of Lloyd's pleading stare bore down on him like a lead anchor. Kratos had figured the subject of Lloyd's parentage would arise at some point or another, but now that it had, he was in quite a tight spot. If he told him the whole story, details withstanding, that would be an impromptu disaster right then and there. However, if he outright refused Lloyd's questions, that would widen the valley of mistrust he'd set about to mend or worse, Lloyd would start looking for answers on his own. Kratos suppressed a shudder. No, he couldn't have that, not yet.

Still, it all came back down to what he had to choose right then. There was no maneuvering around it.

... what to do, what to do...

'If I am careful to not reveal any specific details, it should be fine.' Kratos finally concluded in his mental tango. 'He won't catch on.' In a tight situation, the seraphim had always been able to count on Lloyd's naivety in order to help him without the slender swordsman having any clue. Not even the events at the Tower of Salvation had been able to shake all of Lloyd's obliviousness to underlying messages, which he'd since employed to his advantage to drop hints here and there about what Lloyd should do next. Perhaps he could do it again if he navigated the waters of wordplay deftly. Lloyd hadn't ever figured it out before, why would he now?

"...alright." Kratos relented dejectedly as he picked up the accessor and repositioned it on his lap. "I'll... see what I can find." Lloyd broke into an exuberant grin, plunked down next to Kratos and dove a hand into the bag he'd retrieved from his home.

"Thanks, Kratos!" The slight six year old piped while his arm rummaged around in the bag, frantically searching for something. "Okay, I've got a whole bunch of questions, so-"

"Wait a moment, I'm pulling up a new page." Kratos interjected and pressed a switch on his accessor's control pad. Truth be told, all he did was hit the refresh button, but Lloyd needn't know that. He had to make it look realistic or otherwise Lloyd might get suspicious. Kratos had to play this out masterfully or otherwise the consequences would be catastrophic.

"Alright, what is your first question?" He prompted after he stalled for sufficient time to dull Lloyd's curiosity. "I shall answer them to the best of my ability."

"Hang on, I've almost got it." Lloyd returned rushedly, his arm still swimming down into the bag. "Okay, I think I just felt it, so if I angle my hand like that... gotcha." The precocious prepubescent boy wrenched his arm out of the burlap sack and dropped his newfound treasure on his lap with a heavy flump. Kratos raised an eyebrow. He couldn't quite make out exactly what was resting precariously on Lloyd's thighs, though from what he could see it was whitish and rather thick.

"What exactly is that?" The seraphim inquired while he eyed whatever it was with a healthy amount of scrutiny. Lloyd glanced down at his lap, picked up the object and gazed at it wistfully, his eyes warm, yet strangely melancholic.

"Right after we blew up the Asgard Ranch, I made a list of everything I wanted to know about my parents. I've been adding to it ever since then whenever I had some free time." Lloyd held it out for Kratos to take. "Here, take a look." Kratos gingerly took the roll of paper, which weighed more than he expected, and unraveled the top of the scroll so he could see the entire composition.

To say the list was extensive would have been to say the ocean was damp.

The text scribbled on the page covered practically any aspect Kratos could imagine a self supposed orphan would want to know about his or her heritage, along with some others he hadn't thought of whatsoever. Name and appearance he'd figured were givens, but allergies, preferred types of alcoholic spirits and even whether or not they were colorblind hadn't even entered his mind. The lists went on and on and the more Kratos read, the more impressed he found himself to be with Lloyd's attention to detail. The scroll ends may have been held together haphazardly by paste and the words may have been in a skewed hand, probably the result of improper instruction on handwriting, but his writing was legible, no splotches of ink dotted the pages, and if there had been a crossed out phrase because of a spelling error, there was only one line nulling it, not a myriad of scratches like the paper had suddenly come down with a case of itchy skin.

All in all, the list was impressive, especially given Lloyd's usual attention span when it came to the written word. Kratos snorted mentally and rolled the scroll back up into a cylinder. Clearly the teachers had been letting him slide all this time, if he was truly capable of composing something so detailed and neat. Well, Kratos would see to that soon enough.

There were no room for slackers in HIS institution of learning.

"You've put quite a lot of effort into this." The seraphim swordsman commented coolly as he dropped the manuscript back into Lloyd's arms.

"Of course. These are my Mom and Dad we're talking about." Lloyd retorted, his focus fixed on the beginning of the list. "I can't just B.S. it like it was for school. This is important."

Kratos' eye twitched.

"... charming."

Fortunate for the seraph, Lloyd absolutely missed Kratos' semi-pedantic dismay for he was too busy thumbing back to the top of the list.

"Alright, number one." The short six year old coughed into his hand to clear his throat and sat up straight like he was delivering a sermon. "What's my Dad's name?"

Kratos halted his faux search and watched Lloyd from over the top of the accessor's main screen. He'd figured something of that nature would pop up at some time, but why so sudden and more specifically, why only his father's name?

"Is there a particular reason why you specified your father's name?" The angel asked offhandedly, masking the rush of adrenaline that surged back and forth near his lungs.

"Yeah." Lloyd nodded and gestured to the list. "I originally put down 'What are my parents' names?' for my first question, but then I remembered I already knew my Mom's name, so that left my Dad. The first one is just halfway done. So, is there anything on there about him?" He asked, watching the back of the monitor like it was about to project his answer through the magic of magitechnology.

'Oh, more than I'd ever like to admit.' Kratos sighed petulantly, but he had a part to play, so there would be no voicing his exasperations. Instead, he turned back to the accessor and pressed a few keys.

"Like I said before, with the exception of the Chosens, Cruxis doesn't keep that detailed information on their adversaries. Personal information doesn't interest that of the angels." The seraphim responded lacklusterly, and let the silence fill in the rest. Even in his old age, Kratos was still astounded by how much stillness could say or at least, help set ideas into motion within people's heads. He had been vague enough to vault over the question, yet specific enough to convince Lloyd he'd been answered. After that, it was up to silence and Lloyd to draw his own conclusions. Whatever Lloyd believed afterwards was his own doing, not that of the seraphim's.

Kratos snorted. He might not have helped at all, but to be fair he still hadn't lied.

Beside it wasn't too much of a stretch to say that interpersonal information would be of no interest to the angels. After all, without a soul, not much was of interest anyway.

"So it's a no go?" Lloyd flopped his chin into the curvature of his palm and huffed out a breath of irritation while he scanned down the list. "Shoot. Alright, how about number two. What was his job?"

"Probably a profession related to warfare." Kratos let go of the accessor and folded his arms against his chest.

"How do you figure that?" The slender six year old raised an eyebrow.

"Logic. It is virtually impossible to escape from a human ranch as a prisoner. Only with assistance from the outside could break free from such a facility. Chances are very good that the only reason your mother managed to escape was because of an outsider."

"So you're saying that someone broke into the facility and helped my mom get out?" Lloyd's eyes widened to the size of Colette's rings. "Is that it? And you think it was my Dad?"

"It is merely speculation, Lloyd." Kratos retorted smoothly. "I am going by logical reasoning. That ranch was state of the art in its time. The odds of breaking out and surviving would've been astronomically small, but during Kvar's explanation, there was no mention of you living inside the facility, so that would lead one to assume that you were born afterwards."

"Okay, I think I get it." Lloyd nodded, his fist clutching a charcoal pencil he'd rescued from his pack. "So what's all this got to do with my Dad?"

"I'm getting to that. If we follow this line of deduction, you were not born inside the facility, yet you said when you were separated from your family you were three. That means there would have been a period of at least four to five years in which your mother would have been out of the grasp of the Desians."

"Wow, that's a long time." The scanty swordsman whistled.

"Indeed. Therefore, it would make sense to assume that at least one of your parents was adept at fighting, thus keeping you all from death or capture. And given from what I read in the archives about the Angelus Project, from what you've said and the information revealed at the ranch, your mother probably wouldn't have been strong enough to fend all of the oncoming Desians by herself. So, it is safe to assume another companion would have been the only candidate."

"So it was my Dad then." Lloyd beamed. Kratos' heart skipped a beat. Perhaps he'd said too much. No, at this point the only reason he was having heart palpitations was because of his own paranoia, not Lloyd's skills of deduction.

"It is only sophistry that it was indeed your father to whom we are referring. It could've been anyone." The seraphim added on in an effort to cover his tracks. Lloyd glanced up from his parchment, wrinkled his nose and snorted.

"Of course it was him. Who else would it have been?" He interjected, shoving his nose back into the paper so close that he smudged the charcoal. Kratos frowned.

"A stray soldier, perhaps." The seraphim suggested offhandedly. "Or perhaps a mercenary trying to blackmail the Desians into cowing to his or her demands. The scenarios are endless. It doesn't necessarily have to be your father."

"Oh, yeah right." Lloyd rolled his eyes, nose stained with soot. "No soldier would have risked their lives without help of their friends and if they did, there would have been a mention of it in the records of the ranch and the Professor didn't find anything like that. And, even if there wasn't, one of the towns would've had something up at least as a memorial, right?" Lloyd's pencil slipped out of his hand, but he caught it with the other, stretched his wrist back and resumed writing. "Besides, no mercenary's that stupid to take on a bunch of Desians all by himself. I failed algebra, but even I know you don't take on all those Desians alone and expect to leave with everything intact. Whoever did it was either really freaking brave, or the dumbest guy on the planet. So, if we go by _my_ deduction, there's no one else who would fit the bill. It had to have been my Dad." Lloyd looked up from his list, brushed the rogue strand from his eyes and grinned at the seraph.

"'Cause let's face it. I had to have gotten it from somewhere." He laughed lightheartedly. "And for some weird reason, I don't think it was from Mom." Chuckling under his breath, Lloyd shook his head and turned his attention back to his list, all the while missing the shocked stare blaring at him from behind the monitor.

Kratos didn't know what to say or even what to begin to say. All he managed to do was regain a taciturn expression while Lloyd's last thought hung in the air like a fresh strand of garlic strung out to dry, his words the aroma bombarding Kratos' senses and ego.

Fine, that hadn't been his most shining hour in hindsight and... Anna probably _wouldn't_ have done anything that brazen, but that in itself did not automatically make it so he was quote on quote 'the dumbest guy on the planet'. Insinuating such an idea was a grievous insult to his intellect, if not an outright fallacy. Before he embarked into a situation that could turn deadly, Kratos carefully surveyed the oncoming battle for any signs of a threat. Usually there were none, but one could never be too careful. Only then did he act.

'Dumbest guy on the planet' indeed.

Also, since Lloyd had no clue as to whom he was referring, the boy had no idea large bands of Desians against his father had been hardly a fair fight. In fact, he'd torn through those soldiers like a used box of tissues. They were hardly a challenge, and not even all that sporting. Lloyd simply hadn't factored that into his logic, if that could be called as such.

Though, as much as Kratos didn't want to admit it to himself, Lloyd made a decent point. That little endeavor probably hadn't been the brightest move he ever made in his lengthy career, but risks had to be taken at the time in order to ensure Kvar's perfect exsphere did not make an appearance just in time to cushion Mithos' dream of an age of lifeless beings. Besides, he had met Anna because of his recklessness and if given the choice to revise his actions, he would had done the same thing a thousand times over.

"Fine. Let's say it was your father." Kratos finally relented for the sake of moving along and away from any potential conversational land mines. "What would that change?"

"Everything, duh." Lloyd grinned, scrawling down notes on the paper as fast as he could. "If it was him who broke into the ranch and rescued Mom, that means I was wrong this whole time."

"Wrong about what?" Kratos inquired. Lloyd usually didn't like admitting he was wrong, though eventually he would, but he never looked nearly so happy.

"I was wrong because I thought he was just another prisoner the whole time and turns out he wasn't."

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Prisoner?"

"Yeah. After that whole thing at the ranch, I got to thinking about Dad a lot." Lloyd replied as he licked the tip of the charcoal pencil to get it to write again and continued scribbling away. "From what that scum bag Kvar said, it was practically impossible for anyone to get in or out and my mom getting that far was a minor miracle. So, I thought the only way for them to have met was... for him to have been a prisoner too." Brows creased, Lloyd set down the pencil down, inspected his notes and frowned.

"I don't really know why I thought that might be it, but for a while it crossed my mind. I didn't get enough information to really know any better, y'know? How was I to know any differently? It gave me indigestion for a week even thinking about it."

"Is that why you didn't wish to eat for a while afterwards?" The seraphim pressed, recalling Lloyd's uncharacteristic apathy towards food for roughly eight days after the events at the ranch. A spell of not desiring food mightn't have been anything to memorable for most, but this was Lloyd. He just didn't do that, not even as a toddler.

"Yeah. But that isn't the case, so I was wrong, and I'm happy I'm wrong." He continued while crossing off the first line and writing away. "I don't want my Dad to be a captive of Cruxis, after all."

Kratos closed his eyes. The mere thought of his father being held hostage by the desians had unsettled Lloyd to the point he no longer wished to eat. Perhaps it was a good thing for the time being Kratos hadn't let Lloyd know about his parentage. Now that he was smaller, it wouldn't do at all if he refused to eat. He could very easily get sick without proper sustenance. Still, the irony of the whole situation hit the seraphim like an iron hammer. While that hadn't been entirely accurate, in essence Lloyd was basically correct. Kratos _was_ being held against his will, though not for the same reasons one might think. Of course, Lloyd didn't know that, but if he knew...

He would lose his appetite again for sure.

"Alright, so that's enough for that one. One to number three." Lloyd held up his pencil

like a symphony conductor and prodded his agenda. " "What were they like?"

Kratos opened one eye.

"What do you mean specifically?"

"Uh, like personality and stuff." Lloyd shrugged and scratched the side of his face with the blunt end of his pencil. Kratos remained silent. What exactly had possessed Lloyd into thinking that Cruxis kept a note on personalities? They didn't even do that with their own members, let alone prisoners in human ranches. In the past Yggdrasill had at one point entertained the notion of keeping track of personalities, in case impostors attempted to gain access, but that hadn't ended well. Yuan had been put in charge of that little assignment and Kratos had promptly gained the description 'An irascible, mordant curmudgeon with the personality and humor of a rock'. As he was not about to passively let him slide by with such a comment, Kratos created his own profile for Yuan, describing the half elf as a 'derisive, bombastic, self righteous narcissist with all the warmth of a blizzard in Flanoir in January'. The half elf was quick to respond with interest and before anyone realized it, the description sections in their respective archives morphed from a precaution against infiltration into an all out insult war.

Needless to say, the project was scrapped and the both of them were reprimanded. So, no, personality traits were not archived.

Regardless of whether or not the archival database held what Lloyd sought or not, this presented a challenge. He didn't feel it right to outright lie to the boy, not if he was to gain true trust, but at the same time, the entire subject of how the seraphim knew any details could spurn a line of questions that would lead into a swirling black vortex of rejection and scorn if Lloyd discovered the truth too soon. As he contemplated his next move, his outward reticence unknowingly set in motion a fog of tension, one that Lloyd was squirming under its weight.

"... Sorry. I know it's a dumb question, but I just couldn't help myself. I... I was just kinda hoping there'd be something on there about them, but I was being dumb. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up." Lloyd suddenly murmured miserably while he made an 'X' next to the number three. "I shouldn't have asked. Let's go on to the next one-"

"... kind."

Lloyd's head shot up.

"What?"

"I remember reading a report about the angelus project from a while back." Kratos responded, his arms folded across his chest. "In the report, it spoke of the latest subject, A012, who was unusually kind towards most of her fellow cellmates. That may not seem to stand out, but being kind is sometimes a rarity in ranches, since most captives become bitter and ridden with despair within a few months."

"Gee, I wonder why." The short swordsman rolled his eyes, but looked back his list and beamed. "So, 'kind' huh? That's pretty cool. I wonder if she was pretty..." Biting back a pained sigh, Kratos covertly brought his hand to his chest and felt the fabric smooth over the worn bronze locket.

'I'd show you if I was able to.' The archaic angel lamented tiredly. He'd briefly entertained the notion of pulling up the records in the Desian archival system to see if a picture was available, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The picture, if any, would have been during the time of her detainment and Anna would've been scandalized at the idea of Lloyd seeing her like that. She hadn't been unpleasant looking by any means during her stay at the ranch, but any picture from that time wouldn't do her much in the way of justice. Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't believe in ghosts, but belief aside, he figured it would be just his luck that she came back to haunt him if he even tried to show Lloyd. And, knowing her, it would be loud.

"Kratos, you okay?" Kratos blinked out of his revelry to see Lloyd watching his face so close they were practically nose to nose.

"I'm fine. I was thinking." The seraphim replied, eyebrow raised. "Continue." Lloyd eyed him skeptically and kept his gaze on the angel even after he sat back down on the earth and picked up his list.

"Only if you stop zoning out like that. It's creepy." Lloyd ruffled his shoulders beneath his shirt and looked at his list. "Number four. Who do I take after, Mom or Dad?"

Kratos' internal drive perked up. Now THAT he could use the computer to find out. In fact, if his memory served him correctly, he already had done that precise thing. Without hesitation, the seraphim keyed in a few choice words and within minutes, a circle chart flashed onto the sickly bluish glowing screen.

"I believe this will tell you what you need to know." Kratos gestured for Lloyd to come peer at the screen, which Lloyd wasted no time in acquiescing. "I took the liberty of checking your original genetic makeup in the core system and apparently, 85 percent of your traits come from one side, while the remaining 15 percent comes from the other." The scanty swordsman craned his neck over the side of Kratos arm, whistled and poked the screen with his finger.

"And that makes 100 percent, right?" Lloyd asked, his collarbone resting on the side of Kratos' arm. Kratos' eye twitched again.

"And here I thought you were bad at math."

"Heh heh, don't underestimate me." The thin boy grinned triumphantly. Feeling a little dejected Lloyd had missed his sarcasm, Kratos sighed and massaged his temple.

"I'll try."

"So, which side is more... um..." Lloyd bit on the tip of his pencil in thought he was still holding for some reason and glanced up at Kratos. "You know... more... there or obvious or-"

"Are you searching for the word 'prominent' or perhaps 'dominant'?" The archaic angel interrupted with one eyebrow at a slant.

"Yeah, that's it." The thin boy nodded. "Does it say which one is more... prominent? Did I say that right? All I got were numbers and, while they're pretty, they don't do me much good."

Kratos had to stop himself from making a snarky comment insinuating numbers had _never_ done Lloyd much good, and turned his gaze back down to the screen. It didn't take him long to relocate the chart on the page, as it was the only thing on the page sporting more than one color, but as he closed in on the notes next to the percentage numbers on physical heredity, a warm and satisfactory tingling sensation brewed in his chest and the seraph smiled ever so slightly.

"It appears that most of your physical characteristics are derived from the paternal side." He reported stoically despite the fluttery palpitations lingering in his bread box. Lloyd watched Kratos curiously, the cogs in his head turning, and after a few moments of clockwork thought, he tilted his head to an angle.

"So, you mean I take after... my Dad?" He asked, intrigue laced in between his words.

"Most likely." The seraphim conceded, finding himself rather pleased Lloyd figured it out on his own. That or he just guessed. Either way, he was still pleased. "Though these are the observations by the genetic system inside the main database and therefore could be inaccurate..."

"Lloyd, are you listening?" Kratos' gaze sharpened on the boy and frowned. Even though Lloyd was still staring straight back at him, it was obvious he was not on the same plane of mental existence. It was a prime case of 'the lights were on, yet no one was home'. At the sound of his name, Lloyd started and blinked rapidly like he had an army of eyelashes invading his eye.

"Wha? Yeah, I'm paying attention." The diminutive dual wielder tried to recover as best he could, yet only making himself appear more guilty. Kratos shot him a stony scowl. It was fine to lose oneself to one's own thoughts, and he was pleased to see Lloyd employing abstract thinking abilities, but Kratos was less than thrilled he'd chosen to do so _while_ the seraphim was talking.

"For some reason, I doubt that. You seem more preoccupied with being smug." Kratos observed coolly. "And you just berated me for 'zoning out', as it were."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to." Lloyd rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks a tad pink. "I just got excited and kinda... zoned out. I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it. This is just really great news!"

"Oh?" The seraphim inquired while feigning mild interest in place of the pressing interest rising in his chest. "What makes you find it so?"

"If I look like my Dad, when I get older again, I'll finally get to see what he looks like." Lloyd explained. "See, I've never seen a picture of him or anything and chances are he's not alive either. So while I may never get to meet him, at least I'll get to see what my Dad looks like. All I have to do is get older. I can't wait!" Lloyd pumped a fist into the air and grinned into the darkness. Kratos wasn't entirely sure of Lloyd grinning, but given it was Lloyd, who was prone to bouts of unbridled enthusiasm, and his voice already seeped waves of ecstasy, it was fair to assume.

"You don't remember anything of him from your childhood, correct?" Kratos followed up nonchalantly while he let his finger move the cursor around aimlessly around the screen.

"Not really." Lloyd shook his head. "Bits and pieces, some shadows and vague memories, but not a whole lot that's specific." The scrawny six year old blew a piece of hair out of his face with a puff of breath and let his eyes fall back to the list. Kratos observed his son stare heatedly at his composition like he was expecting the words to dance about on the pages, yet his hopes of a comprehension polka were in vain. The words did nothing, as did the boy, so it wasn't long before Lloyd's face contorted in a grimace and he flopped his cheek into his palm.

"I wish I did." He muttered. "All I've got is this list and a whole bunch of questions no one's got the answer to, not even an all knowing... angel.. data base... thingy."

Kratos rolled his eyes.

"Your eloquence never ceases to astound me, Lloyd." He responded calmly, while his inner tones launched into yet another tirade over the boy's blatant lack of proper education, specifically in the realms of diction and vocabulary. 'Thingy' was almost as offensive as 'angelly', though nothing had touched that standing so far.

However, the night was young and so was Lloyd, so anything was possible at that point.

"Hey, it's not my fault I was never any good at that sort of thing with words." Lloyd protested hotly, his cheeks glowing in the moonlight. Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Then whose fault would you say it was?"

"Erm... I... I don't know, but whoever had the books last kept ripping out all of the pages and that's why I couldn't study right-"

"And an extreme case of apathy had nothing to do with it?"

Lloyd blinked.

"... That's 'not caring', right?"

"Yes." Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh. Then, yeah, that had a lot to do with it." Lloyd shrugged. "Still, I wish I remembered them more. Then I wouldn't have to ask so much about stuff I should already know."

"Perhaps you will not need to after a while." The seraph suggested as he shut the accessor and returned it to his wingpack. "Memories sometimes return in time."

"I hope you're right. You'd think if I was gonna have any memories pop up, they'd have done so already, but here's hoping-" Lloyd yawned a yawn that would have made Noishe proud and rubbed at his eye with his fingers. Kratos frowned for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that night. Even though he'd taken a brief respite, obviously it wasn't enough for his shrunken body to rejuvenate properly. Of course, Lloyd hadn't figured that out and was dangerously close to causing his own demise through sleep deprivation... again. Honestly, the boy was his own worst nightmare health wise.

"You should go back to sleep." Kratos suggested, his tone implying his comment was anything but. Lloyd cracked open a bleary eye riddled with eye fluid and shot Kratos a half hearted glare.

"I'm fine." He refuted, despite his body's attempt to force him to yawn a second time. "I can keep going. You wanted to keep moving after I had a rest and I can keep going."

"You will be of little use if exhausted." The seraphim swordmaster responded curtly. "You're only trying to be tough to compensate for your diminutive stature."

Lloyd's cheeks flashed pink.

"I am not! I'm perfectly... perfectly..." He yawned again. "... fine."

"Fine, hm? I'm less than convinced. Humor me and rest anyway." Lloyd glowered unhappily, but conceded and lowered himself back onto the ground. As Kratos observed him, he couldn't help but wonder if it had been the power of his own presence or that of the binding contract that coerced Lloyd into resting for a short while longer. Well, either way it didn't matter. Lloyd was listening and that was the main point.

"But I'm not tired-" Lloyd began to protest, but ceased when Kratos held a slim bottle inches away from his nose.

"Drink this." He yanked out the stopper and gestured for Lloyd to take it. Lloyd did so, but inspected the thick solution inside the foggy glass of the vial with a great deal of scrutiny.

"What's this?"

"Something to help you sleep." Kratos explained. "It's very potent, so drink it quickly."

"Okay." Lloyd replied, but the expression on his face screamed he didn't trust the solution as far as he could throw it. "It.. uh... it isn't gonna turn me purple, is it?"

"No, it only turns people orange."

Lloyd's eyes widened and shot down to the bottle. Kratos sighed.

"... it doesn't really. Just drink it."

The slender six year old scowled at Kratos, eyed the liquid again and downed it in one swallow. The instant it was gone, he shuddered, made a face of discontent and tossed the bottle back to the older man.

"Don't do that." Lloyd groused while he relieved himself of the remaining drops that occupied his face with his sleeve. "I never know why you're being sarcastic or... or..." His eyelids suddenly half capped over his eyes. Lloyd swayed from side to side and went limp. His slack body quickly gave way to the powers of gravity and he crashed onto the ground, out cold before his head hit the dirt.

'Hm... it seems the sleeping drug took effect quickly enough.' Kratos mused as he stood. 'That should be enough to keep him unconscious for the duration of the trip.' He quickly kicked ash over the straggling flames of what was left of the fire and let his eyes adjust to the starlight before turning to his unconscious charge. It wouldn't do for him to meander aimlessly in the dark with no bearings. That was more Lloyd's foray, not his.

'I hope you forgive the necessity to medicinally keep you from the world of the living.' He thought to himself as he hoisted Lloyd over his shoulder like a sack of flour and proceeded down the path to a better clearing. 'I didn't enjoy having to do so, but you must understand there was no alternative. I cannot have you be awake if this plan is to succeed.' Truthfully he wasn't sure if his strategy would work in the grand scheme, but he had a better chance of it working if Lloyd was conveniently not there in the mental sense. His plans would be forfeit if the boy opened his mouth and inserted his foot at a crucial point.

'If he wakes up during our excursion, then it will all be for nothing.' The seraphim scowled as he reached the clearing and brought out his wings. 'I wonder if I gave him enough.' The winds around the clearing were fairly turbulent, yet nothing he couldn't handle, so while the clearing wasn't the most ideal place he could have chosen for a departure point, it would have to do. He flapped his wings, allowing himself to get a feel of the conditions, ran forward and kicked off from the ground hard.

Once in the air, Kratos came to a horrible realization.

The wind had lied about being 'fairly'. A huge blast of chilly air hit him squarely in the chest and caught his left wing, throwing his entire body off balance. Kratos managed to rectify his equilibrium by compensating with his opposite wing, but once back properly in the air, he noticed his shoulder had become suddenly free of pressure. Eyebrow caulked in intrigue, the angel looked to his shoulder and his pupils dilated.

Lloyd wasn't there.

He'd dropped him.

'Lloyd!' Kratos dove back down after his son, who in his slumber was as feathery as a lead weight in water. The seraphim, flying faster than he could ever recall himself doing, snagged Lloyd by his ankles just in time for his head to graze the dirt, barely missing it by centimeters. His heart racing a mile a minute, Kratos hauled Lloyd back to an upright, or at least right side up, position and checked him for any signs of damage. Lloyd amazingly enough was unharmed, with nary a hair out of place. In fact, he was so unharmed, Lloyd's head lolled to the side and let out a supremely satisfactory snore.

'He's... still asleep?' Kratos tried hard not to gape, but as he was alone, allowed himself that brief moment of emotion.

"SKRUNK." said Lloyd.

Highly unsettled because he'd almost turned his son into a pancake, Kratos readjusted Lloyd on his shoulder, this time holding onto the boy's body with both hands and resumed his flight towards the Tower of Salvation.

'... maybe it worked a little too well.'

* * *

"What?" Genis gaped at Mithos, his eyes the diameter of a wagon wheel. "You know a way to get us back to normal?"

"Not so loud! Keep your voice down." Mithos hushed with his finger glued to his face. "I don't want this to get out."

"Why not?" The miniature mage asked, his features all in a wave of confusion. "This is great news!"

Mithos didn't answer, but gestured him to come away from the door and farther into the clearing. If the others even caught the slightest hint there was something of interest sparked within their private discussion, something in the pit of his stomach told him it wouldn't remain private for long.

"It's a little more complicated than you think, Genis. I should explain first before we go any further." Mithos gently turned Genis' shoulders away from the the house's path so they both stood with their backs to the aged and abused door and gazed up at the sky. The sky wasn't nearly as clear as most nights since a flurry of clouds had decided to make the overhead window to the cosmos it's temporary squatting spot until a wind came to the sky's rescue and evicted it.

Still, it was calming, in a sort of a foggy way and the comfortable silence between the two half elves helped ease the mood to one that would be optimal for persuasion. Or at least, Mithos expected it to do so. Even if it didn't, he felt confident in his mastery of manipulation, and while he did not generally enjoy employing it on a fellow half elf, let alone one he considered a friend, he had to do what was required of the situation.

Beside him, Genis shivered and rubbed his hands up and down on his arms. Mithos spared the smaller half elf a glance and cursed. While the air was still warmed by the summer sun, the heat had dissipated just enough for a nightly chill to sink in and apparently his counterpart was feeling the effects. He'd not noticed them as much, due to his subdued sensations, but it was a careless move to forget such an important factor. If Genis grew too cold, he would want to return inside and there would be no way Mithos could deny him without gaining suspicion. Once Genis stepped back inside, his chance would be shot dead in the heart.

He had to act fast.

"I... I have this... charm of sorts that may help you. It's a keepsake my sister gave me that can heal." Mithos stuffed a hand into the lined pocket of his trousers and pulled out a round stone. "Look at this." Quickly, he set the stone into Genis' hand and watched as the half pint half elf turned the stone over in his palm.

"It looks like an ordinary stone to me." Genis shrugged.

"I know, but look closer. See how it sparkles when the moonlight hits it?" The angel in disguise gestured to the light of the moon that barely poked through the haze and aimed a finger at the smooth surface of the stone, which did in turn glow. "That's how you can tell it's a healing stone." Genis eyed Mithos skeptically for a moment or two, but in the end shrugged and held the stone closer to his face like he was a jeweler examining a precious diamond.

"Well whatever it is, it's awfully pretty, Mithos." He complimented as he ran his fingers over the rim of the orb. "Your sister picked out a good one." Mithos' insides burned with pride over praise of his sister's taste, but the glowing warmth faltered when Genis held his hand out for Mithos to take the stone back.

"I'm happy to hear you like it." He replied with relish. "But... I want you to have it." Genis gaped at Mithos and sank his eyes back to the smooth rock.

"Me?" He repeated. "What for? This is your sister's and I wouldn't want to take it away from you-"

"My sister told me to only use it in the gravest of circumstances, but given what you've gone through, I think you should have it the most." Mithos interrupted. "And... you're the first half elf friend I've ever had and I... I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Genis looked positively touched. Mithos grinned. So far, so good.

"Wait, this is a healing stone, right?" Genis asked out of the blue. Mithos nodded.

"And this can heal most things?"

Mithos nodded again. Where was Genis going with this?

"If that's it, we should give it to Colette-"

"No!" Mithos interjected in a panic before he could stop himself, and mentally cursed the instant he'd realized his slip. "Uh, I mean, if she's really having a reaction to that keycrest thing, the stone might make it worse and whatever cure you guys find might not work on her. I don't want to risk it. It's too dangerous. So, that's why I want you to have it."

"Oh... I guess you make a good point." Genis looked crestfallen and his shoulders sagged a bit. "Okay, I understand. How's this thing work?" Mithos let out a barely concealed breath of relief. That was close, far too close for his taste and he'd have to be much more careful to not slip up a second time. He was lucky and luck never seemed to stay with him more than once at a time.

"Sis said you're supposed to wear it." He instructed. Genis blinked and looked at Marble's exsphere on his hand.

"You mean like an exsphere?"

"I... I don't know, I guess so." Mithos shrugged, and fished out the second part of his plan from his pocket. "My sister said you had to wear it with this mount, whatever that means, so if that's what you mean, they could be related." In his palm sat a flat silver shield with a dimple in the center, the perfect size for the stone to sit in. Genis took the mount, scrutinized it and placed the stone inside the dimple.

"Where do you think I should put it on? My arm?"

"Hm... how about in the middle of your chest?" Mithos suggested.

"Why there?"

"If it's under your shirt, the others won't see."

Genis scrunched up his nose in befuddlement.

"Why can't the others see?"

"I... well.." Mithos pressed his index fingers together and pretended to fidget. "I only have one of those stones, and I don't want them to get jealous because I gave it to you."

"Oh." Genis murmured and patted the part of Mithos' arm that he could reach. "No problem, Mithos, I'll hide it really well. How about... here?" He yanked down his collar expose some skin between his left shoulder blade and the nape of his neck. "Even if they see me without my shirt, they'll never think to look there. My hair'll hide it." The half pint half elf wasted little time attaching the mount to his shoulder blade and once it was secured, yanked the shirt back over the stone.

"How long until it starts working?" Genis asked, shrugging his shoulder back under his overall strap.

Mithos began to think, but after a few moments, realized that he really didn't know. He'd for the most part thought himself quite thorough, but for some reason, he'd forgotten that crucial bit of information. How embarrassing.

"I don't really know." He answered truthfully. "I think it works differently for different people."

"Oh." Genis blinked, but shrugged again and stretched. "That's okay then. If I could wait for Lloyd to finish his homework after school, I can wait for this to fix my stature problem. Chances are this'll take less time anyway."

Mithos tried to stifle a snort of laughter, but failed miserably. Hearing Genis talk about Lloyd usually set his teeth on edge, but in this vein, he didn't mind at all. In fact, the whole thought was just hysterical, if not a bit ironic. The one person standing in his way, trying to foil all his plans, right wrongs that weren't even wrongs to begin with, couldn't even finish his homework. The sheer irony was enough to send anyone into a fit of laughter.

Pretty soon Genis was laughing too and before either of them knew it, they were both sprawled on the ground, overcome with a severe case of the giggles.

"... hey, Genis?" Mithos gasped after he caught his breath. "Can we keep this just between us, so it's our secret? I only had the one and-"

"Don't worry about it, I won't tell." Genis looked over the top of his head, grinned and hopped up. "So, you up for dessert? I can smell it wafting in through the door."

"You go on. I'll be right in." Mithos declined. "I want to look at the stars for a minute. I think the clouds are letting up." Genis stared up at the sky, which was still as cloudy as before, wrinkled his nose, but didn't argue.

"Okay. I'll save you a big piece." He dismissed and trotted back up to the door, wrenched it open and shut it with a slam, leaving Mithos in the night. Finally on his own, the blonde form on the ground let out a taxed exhalation and ran a hand through his hair, which was damp with sweat. That had proven more difficult than he'd expected. He knew Genis was smart, brilliant even, but when he'd suggested giving the stone to the Chosen, the leader of Cruxis practically had a coronary. Given the chronic angelus crystallus inofficium that was messing with the Chosen's composition, the last thing he wanted to do with play with the structure any more than necessary. Best let them sort out the problem on their own and then act. Still, he'd dodged that bullet and the plan went accordingly so far, so there was that. Now it was just him and the night sky, or what he could see of it.

The night star scape was still cloudy and blurry, but the brightest stars shone forth anyway despite the looming haze smattered across the black canvas. Mithos smirked. That was just like it was to live in such a tainted world as his. A fair few blazoned through the curtain of corruption and discrimination that plagued the lands, be them Sylvarant or Tethe'alla, and the rest were covered in a thick blanket of obscurity. There was no recognition, no names, not even a wayward glance towards those nye invisible orbs. They existed, of course, but not in a way that would gain them the awe and reverence so craved by many, yet attained by few. So much like the worlds... and so much like himself.

Mithos suppressed a bitter laugh and brushed a piece of his cornhusk colored hair away from his face. No, it was nothing like him. He'd blared through the curtains of discrimination and obscurity, he'd made a name for himself, he'd gained recognition and his name had become that of legends. Everyone knew his name. Everyone. From the highest of nobles to the half elf panhandlers lurking about the corners of the slums, every single being in both worlds knew of him. He refused to be bogged down by some haze, be it clouds or prejudice.

Of course when his plan finally came to fruition, there would be no more haze and the stars would all be just as bright as the next.

Mithos closed his eyes and itched the side of his nose. If he kept dwelling on that too much, he might slip up again like he'd done before and he couldn't have that. No, he'd done all he could right then, he'd set the key pieces about the board and now all there was left to do was for the pieces to move themselves right into checkmate. The only thing he could do until he heard more was to bide his time and maybe indulge in a nap.

Hm... a nap did sound good. Yawning, Mithos shifted his weight until he was comfortable and stretched before settling down.

"Don't worry, Genis. Everything will happen soon enough and then..." The seraphim in disguise murmured as he began to doze.

"... we'll be together forever."

* * *

Kratos had been in stressful situations many times. Hundreds of times. Probably thousands. He'd faced unforeseen odds, beasts long since extinct and virtual armies of men and come out the victor. He'd done more than most men had, even when he'd been mortal, and that wasn't even including his most unusual life once he became an angelic life form. Actually, as he thought on it, stressful wasn't the word he was looking for. Maddening recklessness was probably more accurate.

Now, as he peeked around the edge where the derris kharlan teleportation device, which sat in the center of the Tower of Salvation, his anxiety was nearing the point of hindering his judgment and he didn't want to even think what it was doing to his blood pressure.

'Only one guard on the teleporter. That will make things easier.' Kratos murmured inside his head in an attempt to console himself, but it did little good. Nothing could calm his nerves, not right then. If it had been just him, he wouldn't have been nervous. In fact, he'd wouldn't have been anything but mildly annoyed he had to visit such a place rank with death. However, he wasn't alone.

He had a passenger.

Kratos tore his eyes away from the platform that connected both worlds and the lone angel guard manning it to look at his plus one. Lloyd was still out for the count, having been that way for hours thanks to the sedative, and from what the fluttering eyelids of REM sleep indicated, he wasn't going to wake up any time soon. His trip to the tower had been much quieter without Lloyd's constant stream of questions, but still that had given him time to return to his dark musings, none of which had been particularly kind on his nerves.

'If he was awake, he would probably be asking why we could even get here, what with the tower no longer appearing in Sylvarant.' The seraph brushed a few strands of chestnut hair from Lloyd's face. It had been a mystery to himself as well why the Tower of Salvation had suddenly disappeared, but according to the core system's main database, the tower was still in fact there, just not visible. Apparently the mana surge from the Tree had fried the cloaking device meant for masking the tower during a decline and had turned on of it's own accord. The latest update had been the device was undergoing repairs and they were making progress, but anyone with eyes could see it was still out of commission.

However, he need not explain anything at that moment, for the person he would have been explaining them to was fast asleep. He was just stalling. Kratos snorted agitatedly at himself and glared. He was not the type to stall, not when he had a job to do and this was no exception.

Gathering himself for a moment, the seraphim swordmaster adjusted his grip on Lloyd's tiny body, and strode into the main chamber of the Tower of Salvation, his face and continence the picture of placid taciturnity.

"Lord Kratos." The angel, who looked to be of the middle rank, saluted with all the fluidity of a rusty clockwork doll once Kratos stepped onto the platform. "It is adequate to see you."

"I need to transfer worlds." Kratos responded, stiff and cold as a statue in an ice cavern. "Ready the warp pad." He knew Lloyd probably would have accused him of being rude had he been conscious, but he was in no mood for pleasantries and even if he was, which in his opinion would be the day pigs flew, he wouldn't have wasted them on a soulless angel who wouldn't have appreciated them anyway.

"Yes, my lord." The angelic guard acquiesced, not batting an eyelash as he moved to the console and activated the mainframe so a green circle materialized on the center pad. Kratos held back a derisive sneer. Definitely a waste of pleasantries. "Should I prepare it for two forms?"

"I suppose you should." The seraph advised, his grip on Lloyd's torso tightening ever so slightly. Lloyd let out a soft snore in response, but didn't wake. Thankfully the angelic guard didn't notice because the light signifying the transport pad was at full charge flashed, taking up whatever was left of his attention span.

"The transport pad is functional." The angelic husk reported, his expression as devoid of life as his tone. "What should I classify the second being?"

'Ah, right. He needs to key in what beings are traveling where, thanks to Cruxis' new security system.' Kratos mused, remembering the message about security measures and protocol that had been released only hours before.

"As per the new protocol, I must key in what beings are traveling to which points, due to the new security system."

Kratos' eye twitched.

'I just said that.'

"Yes, I am aware of that." He responded, his tone laced with impatience and something akin to exasperation.

"Then is it a lifeless being, a test subject or a member of the Desian class?" The guard inquired again. "Please specify. The computer does not recognize such a bizarre signature."

'Of course it doesn't.' Kratos thought contritely to himself. 'There's never been anyone quite like Lloyd, but that isn't anything to which you need to be privy.' However, the angel, despite lacking a personality to detect anything too far out of the ordinary, needed an answer and declining to respond would trigger a red alert so massive he'd need the mana cannon to make an escape.

"It is an automaton replica of a human being undergoing the processes of the cruxis crystal's evolution. It is simply for understanding the further effects of exspheres on chosen hosts." Kratos explained smoothly like he'd been reciting a play he'd practiced for a month and a half. "In short, it is a humanoid research model of no importance. Pay it no mind."

"Yes sir. Would you prefer one of the angels take over the task for you?"

"No. It is too delicate to let any angels of lower rank handle. I am making personally sure nothing happens that could damage it. It is very valuable. I would not bother otherwise." Sure, he thought it sounded like a stretch, but to be fair, he didn't have a copious amount of time to plan. Most of the details had been worked out on the flight there and that was between keeping his balance, maintaining speed and not dropping Lloyd again in the process. His focus had been stretched thin as it was. Hopefully it would be enough.

"Yes, Lord Kratos." The mechanical soldier pressed the 'other' button on the console and activated the lift with the starting code. "State which system you wish to enter."

If he'd had less control of his external appearance, Kratos would've let out a giant breath of relief. It had worked. However, he couldn't let his guard down. He wasn't out of the line of fire yet, just out of range somewhat.

"Tethe'alla." He ordered coolly, though his inner temperature was boiling. Nodding once, the soulless console operator hit another button and the circle in the center glowed bright orange before settling into a warm yellow hue. Kratos recognized the color signal for him to enter the warp pad, as he'd done this countless times before, and stepped into the circle.

"Lord Kratos."

Kratos looked over his shoulder and raised one questioning eyebrow. That was odd. Usually during its routine, any angel without a soul did not speak or even acknowledge any other's presence, not while the duty was in full swing. That was a strict violation of their protocol. To add to the strangeness, the angelic guard, who was programmed to always maintain eye contact, even in the face of oncoming death, wasn't looking at him whatsoever. Its normal dead fish stare was fixed on Lloyd.

Kratos' heart flipped in his chest. Had the angel recognized Lloyd, despite his smaller stature? Had he been found out? If that was the case, he'd better be ready to battle tidal waves of angel swordians if he were to get out alive with Lloyd and himself intact.

"It is... snoring."

The angelic swordmaster blinked and glanced down at Lloyd. Sure enough, Lloyd was baying at the moon with reckless abandon, mouth agape and a line of saliva marking his cheek. Kratos shook his head disdainfully and peered back at the angel, his expression a mixture of exasperation and impatience which he hoped would deter any prior suspicions on the off chance there had been. Angels of his rank weren't that perceptive, but there was something to be said for being careful anyway.

"Yes, it does tend to do that." Kratos responded lacklusterly, gesturing to the limp boy as if he was nothing more than a puppet. "This model has a special mechanism designed to study the effects of sleeping on the brain while undergoing the parasitic effects during the ascension. Snoring is often a side effect due to underdeveloped nasal passages, as is common with many subjects." He then removed Lloyd from his shoulder and held him with his chest upwards out for the angelic console operator to inspect. Lloyd's head lolled upside down, his mouth fell open and overall he bore an uncanny resemblance to roadkill, with the exception of the snores that would have made a bull moose proud.

"Most lifelike, isn't it?"

"I do not remember the finer points of sleeping, but from the texts I have perused, yes, it is most lifelike." The angel agreed as Lloyd snored on, completely unaware he was being inspected like a taxidermy piece.

"May I now transfer?" Kratos inquired heatedly, his nerves and his patience running dangerously thin.

"Of course." The angel nodded, hit the access button and nodded again. "Have a nice trip, Lord Kratos and humanoid research model of no importance." The circle of glowing light dancing about the platform glowed a yellowish tint, shot up like a cocoon and with one final flash warped him and what was left of Lloyd away.

Once the light cleared, Kratos was pleased to see the Tethe'alla Tower of Salvation platform staring back at him. It was much the same, in fact for the most part it was the same, but some slight difference dotted the landscape, such as the differing coffins that floated about in the moat like chasm and the fact the angelic drone was nowhere to be found.

'I earnestly wish they wouldn't take everything so literally.' He mused exasperatedly, running his spare hand through his hair. 'Now then, onto business.' Making his way to the control panel, Kratos flipped a switch and quickly keyed in a security code.

"Control override initiated." The computer's mainframe interface sang into the air.

"Initiate memory wipe." Kratos commanded.

"Memory wipe initiated. All old transfers deleted." The console's voice reported again. Mildly satisfied, he made sure once more that any and all old activities had been wiped from the main computer, shut the computer down, readjusted Lloyd's snoozing position on his shoulder and strode out of the Tower as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred at all.

However, something out of the ordinary did occur. Something quite out of the ordinary. If he'd been one to check, Kratos would have noticed a tiny dull flash in the far corner of the platform, one that flashed a pale, pale pink up and down, again and again.

The computer flashed back to life, it's console's lights also flashing the same pink and a buzzing noise came back on the comms, signifying the speaker system was active also.

"Shut down nullified." The computer's voice interface reported dully, despite the flashing lights. "Memory tampering detected."

"Protocol six hundred eighty four activated."

* * *

Lloyd yawned and flipped over. Blinking one eye open, the thin boy stretched an arm over the side of wherever he was this time and wiped some tears of sleep from his eyes. He had slept hard, harder than he usually did, and he was never a light sleeper to begin with. Where he was he wasn't entirely sure, but the last thing he remembered was drinking something nasty that could turn him orange and now here he was, lying in a bed he didn't recognize in a place he barely recognized either. Lloyd glared at the ceiling. What was it, the fourth time he'd done that since shrinking? Any more of that and he'd start to think it a habit.

"Urgh, I really gotta stop doing that, falling asleep all the time and waking up somewhere else." He grumbled, sitting up and rubbing the side of his ear. "It's too creepy. Someday I'll fall asleep and end up at the bottom of a well, I swear."

"You had better not. Profanity is in bad taste."

Lloyd jumped and pivoted his head to the other side of the room, meeting the gaze of the auburn haired angel who'd been apparently watching him sleep. Kratos had seen fit to occupy a high backed leather chairs situated next to a fireplace and from the looks of things, he had been tending to said fire with various articles of parchment.

"How long was I out?" The skinny swordsman asked groggily whilst rubbing his eye with his knuckle.

"Approximately thirteen hours. You must still be recovering from your lack of rest."

"That or I'm growing."

Kratos raised an eyebrow. So did Lloyd.

"It was a joke. Where are we?"

"Meltokio. A room at an inn in Meltokio to be precise."

"We're back in Meltokio?" The short six year old hopped off the side of his bed. "Why?"

"I have to procure some materials and Meltokio is one of the places in which I can acquire them all in one trip." The seraph replied smoothly. Lloyd's nose wrinkled.

"So basically we're here so you can go on a shopping spree?"

"Essentially, yes." Kratos nodded, chucking the last piece of paper into the flames.

"What're you burning?" Lloyd asked inquisitively, his eyes focused on the sparks of embers that used to be papers.

"Old documents that I do not wish prying eyes to read." The age old angel replied curtly. "Your breakfast is over there. Eat it so we can be off soon."

Suddenly all thoughts of burning papers banished themselves from his mind, only to be overtaken with a much more desirable obsession.

"Awesome, food! Thanks!" Lloyd pumped a tiny fist into the air and set down upon the meal of eggs on toast like a swarm of ravenous piranhas. From his seat near the fire, Kratos observed the skinny boy devour his breakfast and judging from the look on his face, he did not approve.

"... that is _definitely_ going to be one of the first things we work on."

"Work on what?" Lloyd asked through a mouthful of egg.

"... nothing." Kratos waved off his comment and turned his attention to the window. "Are you finished?" Lloyd swallowed the last bite of the eggy toast creation and nodded, his face smeared with egg yolk and toast crumbs. Sighing, the seraph picked up the napkin Lloyd had conveniently disregarded and, much to Lloyd's consternation, proceeded to remove the sticky yellow goo that coated the spiky haired six year old's cheeks.

"Ackpffth, what are you doing?" Lloyd half demanded half spluttered through the napkin. "I can do that myself!"

"Oh really?" Kratos asked, disbelief radiating through his tone as he relinquished the napkin and held it out for Lloyd to take. "Then do so. You weren't born in a barn."

"You don't know that." Lloyd retorted crankily, but took the napkin anyway.

"Neither do you. Now hurry up."

Lloyd wanted to shoot off another snide comment, but the glint in the old curmudgeon's eyes led him to believe there might not be much of him left should he decide to take his life into his own hands and lead mouth first, so Lloyd cleaned his face without comment. He then pulled on one shoe, then the other, and quickly followed Kratos out the door, down the stairs and out into the street of the first floor of the metropolitan hub that was Meltokio.

"Where are we going first?" The lilliputian boy inquired, trotting along behind Kratos in an effort to keep up with the older man's strides.

"Patience. You will see soon enough." Lloyd never liked it when Kratos opted for the cryptic approach, but since he was still unarmed, because _someone_ had taken his swords when he was sleeping again, and Kratos was in one of his inscrutable moods, he'd just have to wait.

Lloyd glowered. He hated waiting.

"We're here." Kratos broke him out of his glower just in time for Lloyd to narrowly miss the door frame of what looked to be a shop. However, if Lloyd recalled, none of the shops he'd ever frequented while in Meltokio looked like this one did. He'd been to the armory and the sundries shop, but never to one with a polished oaken door and white trim framing an iron gray storefront.

"Why are we here?" He queried. "And more importantly, what's this shop?"

"You need proper clothes. Running around in one of the Chosen's old dresses doesn't suit you in the slightest." Kratos explained and ushered Lloyd inside. Lloyd scowled at being herded around like some lamb, but his eyes grew large when he saw the sheer variety of children's clothes lining the shelves and cabinets. And it wasn't just the variety that caught Lloyd unawares. It was the quality and quality usually came with a price.

"This place is pretty high end. You sure about this?" Lloyd pointed out. "There's another shop down below that's a lot cheaper-"

"Lloyd, your frugality is a charming trait in most respects." Kratos interrupted, completely unfazed by Lloyd's parsimoniousness. "However, when your clothes reflect your cheapness, that sends a less than savory message about yourself and those around you."

Lloyd blinked.

"Really? I thought that it just meant you didn't want to spend all your gald on clothes."

Kratos shot him a withering look and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It doesn't. Now, I need to speak with the clerk. Stay here and don't touch anything." Without another word, Kratos left Lloyd to his own devices and strode towards the lone clerk, a warm looking young lady, who looked more than pleased she was being approached.

"Yeah, okay." Lloyd shoved his hands into his pockets and trudged off to examine a coat on a shop dummy. It was made out of a nice, red wool with big black buttons, but even as Lloyd looked over the stitching on the cuffs, his stomach churned with guilt over spending money on anything from such an expensive shop. He knew it probably wasn't the most expensive place in Meltokio, and Zelos probably would have turned up his entitled nose at it, but for a 'backwoods bumpkin', it was still pretty high end. Too high end for him to even be in there, let alone buy anything.

"Lloyd."

Lloyd's head shot up from the stitches and he smiled at Kratos, trying to hide his uneasiness as well as he could manage.

"Yeah?"

"I am going to purchase some needed items. You will wait here." The older swordsman instructed, while the clerk hovered behind him, joined by two friends in uniforms.

"Um.. okay." The scrawny six year old shrugged. "What am I supposed to do while you're gone? Just look at stuff?" He seriously hoped not. He hadn't liked being in there for three minutes, but what if Kratos wanted him to stay there for three hours or something? That would be practically torture.

"You will be trying on clothes and getting at least three changes of clothes, one formal, two for every day wear."

Okay, full on torture.

"Three? What's wrong with just one?" Lloyd demanded incredulously. "And why do I need formal clothes?"

"You are incredibly hard on your clothing. One outfit will last you barely an hour." Kratos retorted. "And everyone needs a formal outfit, just in case an occasion spontaneously occurs. It never hurts to be prepared."

"I'm not that hard on my clothes. And I never needed a formal outfit in Iselia."

"Well, we're not in Iselia, now are we?" The elder of the pair asked sardonically while the three sales ladies crawled closer. Lloyd eyed them suspiciously, but as he thought about it, something didn't sit quite right.

"Wait, if you're so worried about my clothing choices, why aren't you sticking around to help me pick something that won't embarrass you in public?" He inquired. "What if I make a choice that's less than fantastic in your opinion?

At that, Kratos did something Lloyd didn't like. Something Lloyd didn't like one bit.

He smirked.

"I don't need to worry about that. These ladies have agreed to assist you." He gestured to the ladies, who circled around Lloyd like a pack of sharks with aprons. "Their taste will be much more invaluable than mine." Lloyd looked from one lady to the next and a rock of dread the size of a bowling ball sank in the pit of his stomach.

"What?" Lloyd's jaw dropped in disgust. "You mean... they're gonna... dress me up like a doll?"

"I will return in one hour. Have him properly dressed by then." Kratos relayed to the head clerk, completely ignoring Lloyd's protests. "I will be within range should he become a handful." The seraph then crossed the shop, gripped the door handle and glanced over his shoulder at a horror stricken Lloyd.

"Lloyd, if you run, I will know." Kratos smirked again, opened the door and strode out, leaving Lloyd at the mercy of the three women in the shop. Lloyd's eyes shifted nervously from one to the others, not sure what to expect. After all, he'd seen something like this happen to Genis once and that had ended with him wearing a weird purple and pink frilly nightmare. Lloyd groaned. He should have known laughing would cost him later.

"C'mere you cutie!" The first, a large woman with rosy cheeks and an even rosier nose cooed and ushered him towards the dressing room in the far back of the shop.

"We have some of the cutest outfits for you to try on." The second, who had been the woman behind the counter, beamed. She was pleasant enough to look at, but her voice could have haunted three rooms and a bath, so Lloyd figured people who interacted with her weren't interested in conversation.

"Ooh, this is gonna be so much fun!" The third, a woman in her mid twenties with yellow hair and bleached teeth grinned, practically blinding him with the sheen. "Which one should we try out first? Ooh, how about the one with the ruffles or maybe that lacy one!"

Wait... ruffles? Lace? Lloyd blanched, gripped onto the first thing he could reach, which was the molding of the dressing room, and held on for dear life. There was no way in this or any lifetime he was going to wear anything with ruffles, lace or any combination of the two.

"Kratos, come back here! You can't leave me like this! Don't you leave me here with them!" Lloyd bellowed frantically as the second lady pried his fingers from the door frame of the dressing room and the other two dragged him inside. "I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!"

* * *

**Finally, I finished. Oy. I need a nap. And a new computer. However, naps are free, so I'll take what I can get.**

**However, before I go, I have news. The ending theme has been announced for the United World Arc, and it's called Dare ga Tame no Sekai by Shikata Akiko, the same person who did the ending theme for the Tethe'alla Arc, Inori no Kanata and Tai no Kodomotachi, which was the end theme for the final episode. Go check it out. Okay, that's enough from me. I've got to get on the next chapter and there's no time to waste.**


	26. The Art of Chivalry

**An update? Ye gads. It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I'll spare everyone the details because it's a bit longwinded and I'll get a hand cramp, but just let it be known my battle with the computer and the responsibilities of the outside world are still ongoing. Also, I have no plans to surrender, which is nice I think. Also, on another note, I managed to find the last three parts of the latest ToS animation episode and holy nut bunnies was it awesome. I thought they should have more oyako, but since I always think they should have more oyako, I suppose I can't really base anything on my own measuring standards, I guess. Ending was pretty awesome though. Oh, as another mention, I didn't think it was possible to animate that much creepy in one package, but they did with Pronyma. Dear lord, she made Rodyle and Kvar look... normal.**

**I wonder if the grand cardinal ranking system is based on a creep-ometer reading...**

**Anyway, enough of my rambling, let's get this gravy train underway.**

**A big thank you to all those who read, favorited and alerted, or a combination of the aforementioned, especially to ImJustNutty, KF2104, terracannon876, oursolemnhour49, Kiomori, AngelofaWhiteNight, Mizu Hoseki, freakyanimegal, Skye96, kuroXIII, Link Fangirl01, Vesperia Lover, NightElfSentina, silent romantic, chronos-girl twice, Kisa167, TearyBlueMoon, and Lily Violet Oak for reviewing. I really appreciate you all take the time to do so.**

**So, try as I may, I still don't own Tales of Symphonia or anything of that nature, nor do I own the list used in this chapter, though I can say the definitions are of my own design. Woo, I actually do own something, yet not that much in the grand scheme.**

Chapter Twenty Six: The Art of Chivalry

"How did it go?" Kratos inquired the second he shut the shop door behind him with a click. From behind the counter, the head clerk's head popped up from where it had been resting on her palm and gave him a wan smile. Kratos raised an eyebrow. That was certainly a reaction he hadn't been expecting. When last he saw her an hour ago, she seemed so chipper. Surely Lloyd hadn't been that much of a handful. Unless...

The seraph reached into his pocket, pulled out an ancient looking pocket watch and tsked in irritation. According to his fob watch, he'd given the shop clerks two more hours than he'd promised. No wonder she looked so physically drained. She'd been here for hours. Kratos sighed again. Anything time related seemed so trivial when one was well over four thousand years of age. Unfortunately, no one else seemed to have that problem and thus there was no sympathy to be garnered. Still, perhaps he'd done them all a favor. Three hours between three women was certainly enough time to wrangle one boy into three outfits and have them all come out of the endeavor alive.

At least, he hoped that to be true. This was Lloyd he was talking about. Anything was possible. Perhaps there was a reason he unconsciously picked the only shop in the middle district with no second floor window from which to leap.

However, the shop was in one piece from what he could see and there weren't any sort of damaged pillars or walls, so that was a fairly favorable sign. Although, the sign's favorability diminished somewhat when he spotted the other two women marching like soldiers outside the door labeled 'dressing room'. Something told him they weren't doing that solely to make a social statement.

"It was fine, sir." The head clerk reported with a perky, yet exhausted voice. "We had a hard time prying his fingers from the door frame in the beginning, but after the first outfit, he seemed to calm down."

Yes, that sounded like Lloyd. Fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, Kratos glanced boredly to the side of the shop where the dressing room stood, along with the two haggard women, and nodded.

"He probably figured he was fighting a losing battle." He replied stoically. "Did you manage to find something to suit him?"

"Oh, yes, and might I say, he is quite adorable in it." The shop lady gushed, her cheeks pinker than they had been when he'd left. "He's still inside the dressing room, if you would like to see."

Ah, so that would explain the other two clerks patrolling the door. Kratos sighed again. It really did figure. Lloyd had no patience for that sort of thing, dressing up in pointless outfits and what not. Though, deep down he grudgingly admitted he knew who was to blame for Lloyd's distaste for shopping, especially for clothes. Anna could have shopped for hours in complete bliss. Him, not so much.

Oblivious to his musings, the head shopkeeper signaled for him to follow her with a flick of her wrist and sauntered off in the direction of the dressing room. Kratos acquiesced with nary a hesitation, already anxious to get moving, and annoyed he'd already wasted half a day. Once at the dressing room, the rosy woman quickly shooed the other two away from the door and knocked on the whitewashed piece of plywood three times.

"You've got a visitor." She cooed in a sing song voice through the door. "Come on out and let us all take a look at you."

"No." Came a voice from inside the dressing room. The head shopkeeper blinked in surprise. So did the other two clerks. So did Kratos.

"'No'?" She repeated through the door, completely lost for words.

"No." came the voice again. "I'm not coming out. I look stupid."

"Oh, _now_ he won't come out." The bleached blonde through her hands into her straw hair and moaned, her mascara already runny from stress tears. "We could barely get him in there and now he won't come out? What were we patrolling the door for?"

"Hush it!" The head shopkeeper hissed and turned back to the dressing room. "But you look so cute! Don't you want to want to come out and show off?"

"I don't look cute, I look like an idiot!" The voice through the door vociferated in an indignantly shrill tone. "And no I don't want to come out! Why would I want to come out and show the world how stupid I look? I'm staying in here!"

Once the piercing howl of fury stopped echoing through everyone's ears, an eerie reticence blanketed the four adults and the entire shop like a layer of awkward sediment on the bed of a river.

"... Has it been like this all day?" Kratos finally asked, his eyes never leaving the door.

"Honestly?" The head shopkeeper inquired, her eyes not leaving the door either.

"Mm."

"... maybe a bit."

Kratos internally winced. He'd thought as much.

"And I assume he's referring to the formal wear as what he'd look ridiculous in?"

"I think so." The bleached blonde nodded while poking the side of her temple. "That was the last outfit we rustled him into. And I don't understand why he'd think he looks silly. He looks precious."

The door snorted.

"Never thought I'd have to use a full nelson to get a client into a shirt, though." The third woman murmured, her arms crossed against her chest.

"Yeah, who woulda thought those wrestling lessons would come in handy in retail?" The blonde added sagely.

Kratos groaned. Maybe this whole parenting thing was going to be much harder than he took it, and he took it with a great deal of caution already. This didn't bode well, especially not if Lloyd had battled against three women over a shirt and suffered defeat in a most undignified fashion.

'I'll have to add admitting defeat gracefully as part of my teaching itinerary.' He ruminated, but quickly shifted his train of contemplation aside. That could wait, he had bigger fish to fry. Namely, the barracuda barricading himself in a children's dressing room.

"Lloyd, just get out here and get it over with." Kratos spoke calmly, yet his voice made it completely clear he was in no mood for debate, argument or rebuttal.

'The authoritative parental figure approach, always a classic.' he commented to himself while he waited for the door to respond, preferably with a white flag. When he'd been preparing for fatherhood the first time through, the angelic warlord had spent hours upon hours perusing documents and texts for any hints on how to handle children and this had been one of the more mentioned approaches when handling conflicts of interest. Anna had dismissed his research, having said he would know when his instincts kicked in, but Kratos wasn't so sure he had any instincts left, so research was all he could truly rely on as a guide of sorts.

Perhaps all that reading and research would now actually pay off. If memory served him well, and for the most part it usually did, letting Lloyd know right off the bat who was in charge would lead to a much more harmonious relationship between them. Boundaries and regulations were essential to any relationship, familial or otherwise, and like any good militia or task force, a chain of command had to be installed. All Kratos needed to do now was relay the message that Lloyd was not at the proverbial 'top of the food chain', as it were. That shouldn't be too strenuous, not when he had eons of experience in just that subject. The angelic lord smirked. No, not strenuous at all. In fact, he'd deem it downright easy.

Satisfied with himself, Kratos folded his arms and patiently waited as the message sank into the air of the dressing room. From inside the room, faint shuffling ruffled behind the door and the latch unlocked. The wooden plank of wood then creaked open ever so slightly to reveal a sliver of what looked like Lloyd's face, except his cheeks were bright puce.

"I look dumb. I'm not coming out so everyone can laugh at me!" Lloyd groused. Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Lloyd, you will not look dumb. Now be a man and get out here."

"Not if you paid me. You left me here with those three vultures. I owe you nothing!" The fuming boy retorted and shut the door with a bang.

Okay, perhaps not THAT easy. Biting down hard so as not to startle the three women with his vast knowledge of profane vocabulary he learned in the army, Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an irritated breath of air. Why, why had he burned that obedience document back at the inn when Lloyd had been asleep? He wouldn't even be _having_ this problem if he'd just given it a little more thought before deciding to turn the paper into ash. When he'd been at the inn waiting for that little hellion to wake up, Kratos had thought it to be the perfect opportunity to get rid of that document so as not to risk someone else, Yggdrasill, from getting their, his, hands on it. The seraphim figured he'd be able to ride herd on Lloyd if it came to that on his own with little conflict. Apparently he thought wrong.

Still, there was little point on dwelling on 'what ifs' and 'should haves'. He had a job to do. And if he had to break down that door and drag Lloyd out by his ankles, so be it.

However... breaking down a door that wasn't his to break down might not be the most popular way to go about, especially not with the ladies who worked there. Due to the limited amount of time and options, it looked like he had no choice. He'd have to go with plan 'C'.

Kratos didn't like using plan 'C' much, but it came through in the end when he'd employed it, though Anna had threatened to haunt him for the rest of his days if he dared use it more than that one time he'd invented it. He knew she'd find a way to make good on her threat, but desperate times called for desperate measures and at that point, he was just desperate to make a hasty exit, Lloyd or no Lloyd.

"I can handle this." Kratos gazed over his shoulder at the three loitering ladies. "You needn't linger." Nodding politely, the clerks returned to their posts, all in all looking rather relieved. Once they were safely out of earshot, the seraph turned back to the door and folded his arms against his chest. Here went nothing.

"If you get out here now with no arguments and no grief, I _might_ get you a cupcake." He spoke quietly. Lloyd cracked the door open again.

"... with crystal sugar sprinkles?"

"Maybe, if you behave."

The door's gap widening further, Lloyd poked his head through the crack and eyed him skeptically.

"... better be a big one." The skinny six year old murmured, pushed the door completely open and stepped out into the shop for the first time in what Kratos believed to be hours. Lloyd was dressed in a fitted, satin, white shirt with cuffs and a high collar, a red, thick, silk tie that tucked itself into a matching waistcoat, black pants and polished shoes to match. Kratos wanted to smack himself in the forehead, but refrained. From the way Lloyd had been going on, the seraphim had entertained the notion perhaps he'd had been attacked with frills or lace, but there was nary a ruffle on him. Actually, the boy would have looked rather presentable, if it hadn't been for the ungodly scowl plastered on his face.

"Take a good look now, because it's the last time you'll ever see me in this get up." Lloyd groused petulantly, utter disgust permeating through his voice.

"I'll be the judge of that. Now turn around slowly." Kratos responded lacklusterly and indicated for him to spin like a pinwheel. Lloyd frowned, but didn't argue and pivoted on the spot like a very cranky merry go round.

"There, happy now?" The surly six year old inquired, fidgeting with his collared shirt after he'd finished his rotation.

"I'm not unhappy." Kratos replied facilely. "These will do. Go put on the other outfit."

"Fine by me, I wanna get outta this." Lloyd pulled at the tie and gagged like he was being strangled. "These pants are itching me right in the-"

"Don't finish that sentence if you wish to live. Go get changed."

"Okay, okay." Lloyd waved over his shoulder at Kratos and adjourned back into the dressing room. He emerged two minutes later wearing a simple cotton candy apple red shirt with burgundy trim that stopped around mid thigh, a brown leather belt, beige pants, and brown boots to match. While Kratos approved of the overall outfit, it was obvious Lloyd was much thinner than the tunic's capacity, so the shirt's extra fabric bagged. That, and the boots he was wearing were too tall for him, so he'd had to fold them over at the knees. Growing room, no doubt.

"This is weird too, but at least there's nothing itching me." Lloyd reported while messing with the leather belt around his waist.

"Are you telling me you prefer traipsing around in one of the Chosen's dresses?" The seraphim swordsman asked while his eyes flickered to the heap of embroidered dress stuffed unceremoniously in the corner of the dressing room.

"No! No, no, I'm fine. Just fine, thanks." Swallowing hard, Lloyd glanced over his shoulder at the pile of girly wear and then back up at Kratos.

"I don't have to wear the dress anymore, do I?" He asked warily, as if he half expected Kratos to subject him to more lessons in humility. While that was an interesting thought in itself, Kratos figured Lloyd had had enough embarrassment to last him at least a week.

"I'll see what I can do to convince the ladies to let you wear it out of the store." The antiquated angel dismissed Lloyd's obviously lingering thoughts and quickly left to cover the damages for the outfits and any other mishaps Lloyd might have wrought upon the store.

Five minutes later, Lloyd and Kratos both descended the stairs of the middle level of Meltokio, Kratos' left hand forever welded on the hilt of his sword and Lloyd's arms laden with a package bigger than he was.

"Hey." Lloyd murmured whilst dodging a cracked spot on a stair. "Thanks for the clothes... and stuff."

"You're welcome." Kratos replied as his eyes scanned from left to right, checking for any suspicious characters who might be following them. "However, you might want to curb your unhappiness should you find yourself in such a situation like that again. It's undignified how you responded. You're lucky they didn't say anything to you about it."

"I know I shouldn't have, but they wouldn't let me do anything by myself. I mean seriously, I don't need help putting on my pants." Lloyd protested. "They kept treating me like a little kid."

Kratos shot him a flat stare.

"And barricading yourself in a dressing room you consider to be mature?"

"... okay, that's a good point." Lloyd relented reluctantly, "But I don't think they woulda had any breath left for it. They were too busy talking about you to each other and then asking me about you."

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What sort of things did they say?" Lloyd hooked the package haphazardly under one arm and scratched at his ear.

"Well, all sorts of things. How old were you, if you were single, if we were related. Basic stuff." The squirty shrimp shrugged. "So, I said you were just looking after me, y'know as a good cover story, and they turned pink in the face and started giggling like they were having seizures. Dunno why though. Why'd they do that?" Kratos closed his eyes in an attempt to stave off the impending headache heading his way and let out a long exhale when it was clear his efforts were in vain.

"Sometimes, women find things... overly cute. Like male bonding, to be precise. Many of them decide such occurrences are cute, adorable or precious, as they put it, and hence many don't seem to have the capacity to keep their giggle fits to themselves." He explained dejectedly. "It's contrived and irrational, but so are many females." The younger of the two eyed his counterpart, frowned and tightened his grip around the wrapped parcel.

"No kidding." The shrunken swordsman scoffed, resting his chin on top of the package. "Girls sure are weird."

"Women, Lloyd."

Lloyd blinked and regarded Kratos, his eyebrow raised like a mirrored version of his elder companion's.

"There's a difference?"

"There is a large difference. A girl is someone who is younger, less experienced and in many ways deemed inferior, just as boys and children as a collective. Women, on the other hand, are full grown adults capable of making choices, engaging in certain activities and being fully competent members of society, just like men. To call a grown woman a 'girl' is to infer she is not an adult and thus demotes her standing to that of a minor. It can be construed as a grievous insult. One who cares to have proper etiquette must learn such terms so as to avoid such a faux pas."

"That's really complicated." The lilliputian boy held the side of his head, the impromptu lecture having addled his mind. "I don't think I get it, but I got it."

"... if you find you are having difficulties remembering, just use the term 'ladies'. It works in either case and can save you a lot of trouble." Kratos added lightly, rolling his eyes. Lloyd buried his face in his bag and seemed to think for a minute, but truth be told, the ancient angel couldn't really see what the boy was doing all that well because of the bright red package hindering his facial view.

"'Ladies'. That doesn't seem too hard." He murmured into the package. Kratos snorted and returned his gaze forward.

"It isn't if you apply it properly." Nodding, Lloyd peeked over the side of the package at Kratos and let the longer piece of chestnut hair drift over his nose.

"Hey Kratos?"

"Hm?"

"What does 'faux pas' mean?"

* * *

"Okay, that didn't do us much good." Sheena groaned as she traipsed down the steps of the Sybak Library, "So far all we got was one of Mithos' companions had the same weird flu bug Colette's got. So, if we're gonna get any more info, we've got to sneak into Meltokio, get past the security in the Castle, somehow convince them to let us look at THEIR library, which by the way won't be a walk in the park because we're sorta kinda wanted traitors, and get out without running into the stupid papal knights. All for a stinking book."

"I like books." Colette beamed, trotting after Sheena. Sheena shot her blonde friend a sideways glance and sighed.

"Colette, not to be mean, but... you like everything."

"Urgh, more books." Zelos groaned after them as he too emerged from the antiquated halls of the hall of texts. "I know for a fact the king's a big time Mithos and the Ancient War' buff, so it's gonna be worth it, but just you watch. I'm gonna be a walking paper cut by the time we find the cure for Colette's funky cold."

"That's what you get from taking my book while I was reading it." Raine retorted coldly, stalking after him and smacking him in the head with a book.

"Raine, that book was twice your size and _glowing_! I was doing you a favor!" The cherub casanova protested hotly. "It's not for kids or adults or... anyone... ever. It's a creepy book. A book of creeps!"

"Well, you are an authority on creeps, guess you'd know." Sheena quipped and punched him in the arm.

"Oy!"

"I wish Mithos hadn't rushed off like that, though. You think he's okay?" Genis asked worriedly when he joined the others with Presea and Regal. Zelos ran a hand through his scarlet tresses and shrugged.

"He probably just forgot some chores or something. He said he knows the way back, and if it'll get your underwear out of a twist, we can check on him later. Don't worry so much, Dude. He's got ten years on ya. He'll be fine." He cajoled merrily and flicked a spike of hair sprouting from Genis' head. Genis growled and batted his hand away, but nonetheless looked slightly more consoled than before.

"He seemed pretty eager to book it though. Wonder what he forgot." The acute assassin pondered against the wind.

"Maybe he remembered where you buried your chest. You think he's got a map?"

"Oh, cork it, at least we have something to go on, so let's get a move on to Meltokio and..." Instead of finishing her sentence, Sheena goggled off into the corner of the street that forked off to the laboratories and narrowed her eyes. "Hey, isn't that-"

"It is. No doubt about it." Zelos craned his neck across to get a better view and sniffed. "What's Blue boy doing here? I thought he left."

Sure enough, Yuan was standing off in the shadows near the fork, talking with someone who looked like a half elf wearing a library uniform. As soon as they seemed done talking, the librarian saluted him and went back to the library as if nothing had happened.

"Was he spying on us?" Sheena curled her fingers into a fist. "Why that low down, no good-"

"Oop, looks like he saw you see him." Zelos pointed at Yuan, who was staring directly at them. Half elf and half pints met each other's gaze for a brief happenstance, until Yuan turned on his heel and briskly strode down the street out of sight, his cerulean hair shining in the dull gray air.

"There goes blue." The second grade swordsman commentated loftily with a hearty air of 'eh'. "Good going, jugs."

"Don't call me 'jugs', you!"

"Yeah, that'd imply you had a chest. My mistake."

"Arggh, you stupid chosen!"

"Ow, not the face!"

"Hey... guys?" Genis looked from side to side and pulled at one of his silver locks. "Where'd Colette go?"

Both bickering brats eyeballed Genis and all sets of eyes ricocheted back to the street where Yuan departed, just in time to see a flip of blonde hair trail behind a corner and disappear.

* * *

"What did you buy when you were out?" Lloyd asked through a mouthful of cupcake, his legs swinging back and forth against the side of the bed. The pair of them had just recently returned after a detour for a cupcake and all in all, Lloyd was really pleased. Not just with having survived being tortured by the fashion inquisition, but even as a plus, he got Kratos to buy him a cupcake. With sprinkles.

'Now how many people can say that they manipulated a seraphim of Cruxis to get them a cupcake and live?' The short swordsman gloated as he popped the last bit of cupcake into his mouth. He hadn't really intentionally meant to procure a cupcake out of that little drama episode, but as far as he was concerned, this was the first in a long line of victories to make Kratos finally see the light and switch sides. That, and more cupcakes wouldn't be bad either.

"Books." Kratos answered distantly while inspecting the brown package on the table that apparently was much more compelling than actually looking at Lloyd when he talked. Lloyd sank his chin into the hand not covered with frosting and licked at his fingers.

"Why?"

"Before you departed your companion's company, I was accosted by your professor. Apparently she feels that going on a brief reprieve from her watchful eye will mean your studies will deteriorate."

"Like they could get any worse." Lloyd glared off at a space in the corner.

"Regardless, she is correct. You cannot stop learning just because you are without an overseer to lash you into the books." Kratos retrieved one of the books out from under the pile, flicked it open and set it down on the table again. "And that is why I will be taking over your schooling from here on out."

"... yeah, I remember the Professor saying something like that." Lloyd's shoulders drooped. He'd honestly hoped Kratos would have forgotten about that, but no luck. The man had a mind like a steel trap and there would be no weaseling out of it if he remembered too. To be honest, he still wasn't sure about this, Kratos being in charge of his overall schooling, but he had promised Colette he would spend time and listen to everything Kratos had to say, so... alright. He'd do it. He'd study. Even if it pained him greatly, he'd do it, for the sake of everyone else and the fate of the world. He was a man... er, boy of his word, after all. It wouldn't do to do anything less than what he promised. Heck, he might even learn something.

"Alright then. I'm game." Lloyd dusted off his hands of the last few crumbs of cupcake and angled himself so he could see what Kratos was doing. "Exactly what does the professor want me to learn? It's not about... rocks, is it? I don't like rocks much. Not the ones she does, anyway."

"That, she did not specify." The seraphim swordsman responded while he finished adjusting what looked like a tripod artist's easel. "Which is why I have decided to take your education in an entirely new direction. I believe you once said that you learned what you needed to, what you deemed to be practical to use in the real world, and did not want to waste your time on pointless facts and trivialities. Would I be correct in saying this?"

"Uh, yeah. I think so." Lloyd rubbed at his cheek vigorously so sugar crystals bounced off his face. "I mean, there isn't much point in learning something if I'm not gonna use it."

"Correct. A great many people spend years learning immeasurable details of countless subjects, but in the end of their study, none of what they have learned can be applied in real life. That is why I've decided to take a more practical approach." Kratos set a chalkboard on top of the three pronged easel and placed a box of chalk on the bar. "From here on out, you will learn practical lessons that you will be able to apply to your life."

"Seriously? No more pointless lectures?" Lloyd's eyes lit up in hope. This sounded too good to be true. Please, please let it be true. If he had to study, please let it be about something useful, not about stupid rocks.

"There will be lectures, but I assure you there will be a point." Kratos corrected him. "This will also be a hands on experience. I'd rather you learn by doing things firsthand than focusing on theories."

"Sounds fine to me." Lloyd lilted his head on an angle. "But I gotta know. If it's gonna be so hands on, what are the books for?"

"These are the text books."

"You want me to read all of these big books? Wouldn't that take forever?"

"Of course not." The seraphim swordmaster retorted as if he'd just suggested jumping off the castle roof. "That method of teaching has already proven to be a colossal waste of time. There is no point in me trying to force the knowledge into your head. These are solely for my use."

"Oh. Okay then. So what's the first one?" Lloyd inquired dully, his eyes already starting to glaze over. "'The History of Tethe'alla's mountains?' 'Different samples of geological rocks?' 'The structural breakdown of the Balacruf Mausoleum?'

"Proper Etiquette and Decorum for Nobility."

Lloyd eyed Kratos with nonsensical awe. 'Etteakit'? What was that supposed to be, some sort of new grammar law? Or was it one of those foods that Zelos and Regal liked to eat. He wasn't sure. It could be either.

"This will teach you how to act and behave." Kratos continued, despite the gaping fish act Lloyd portrayed with uncanny ability. "You have a good heart and your intentions are pure, but you are unpolished. This will make you more appealing."

Oh. Lloyd's eyebrows shot to the roof. This was about rules and manners and... ooh, boy, what did he get himself into?

"But... isn't this for stuffy rich people?" Lloyd queried tentatively like he was walking on spikes.

"No, this is for anyone who does not wish to come across as a complete troglodyte." The elder man countered crossly. "Proper manners show refined taste and breeding, and that will set you aside from others as a gentleman." Lloyd cringed in his head, but tried his best to keep it off his face. If his tone was anything to go by, Kratos seemed pretty adamant on this 'etteakit' thing, but Lloyd still wasn't convinced. There was probably a good reason for it and all, he got that, but the whole ordeal sounded a bit... foofy, for lack of a better phrase.

"Manners know no age, Lloyd." Kratos cast a sideways glance at Lloyd while he flicked the cover open and smoothed out the pages. "Grimacing will do you no good." Lloyd blushed. "You will learn proper diction, posture, manners and how to conduct yourself in a dignified fashion. Upon completing all these lessons, there will be an exam."

Lloyd blanched. An exam? He never did well on exams. It wasn't like he didn't study... okay, he probably didn't study as well as he should, but he did usually give it some effort. It was just when he got to the test, his mind would go blank and he'd choke.

"However, as I detest grading, it will be practical only." Kratos continued, not having noticed Lloyd's sudden oath of silence, or if he did, ignoring it. "You will demonstrate what you have learned and should you impress me, you will advance. There are no automatic advances with me either. You pass, or you fail. I do not allow those to advance who are not ready. If you are not ready, we will simply stay in the same subject until you are."

That got Lloyd's attention. He wouldn't automatically advance to something else just because of time? That was certainly different. When he'd been at school and hadn't gotten something, the whole class would just keep on going regardless. Occasionally he'd convinced Genis to tutor him, but that was it. If he didn't get it the first time, it was just hard cheese. The situation had gotten a bit better when the Professor took over from the old teacher, but he still struggled.

Lloyd figured it would've been selfish to ask for them to wait, but... this was different. This was gonna just be him. Him and Kratos. That's it. No one else. No one to rush him. He could learn at his own speed and not be pushed ahead when he wasn't ready. He wouldn't have to worry about taking up time. This was HIS time and he could take it all he wanted.

Maybe this whole etteakit thing wouldn't be too bad after all.

"And this is really gonna help me?" The thin boy inquired, leaning over the side of the bed with his palms hooked on the edge for balance.

"Yes. How you act and dress reflects upon not only yourself, but those around you as well." The seraphim swordmaster confirmed, setting down the book. "If you represent your companions, such as your half elf friends, in a respectful and regal manner, people will be more receptive to what you have to say and thus will be more easily swayed to your point of view of equality."

"Really?" Lloyd leaned out more, absolutely ensconced. "You mean if I learned all this stuff, they'd get treated better?"

"In a sense, yes, you could take it that way." Kratos acknowledged wisely, "Besides, how do you suppose Yggdrasill achieved what he did? It wasn't by means of a magic mirror. Most nobles achieve power and influence by their charismatic influence they hold over the hearts of the common folk. That fact alone proves while studying is important in order to keep a sharp mind, facts can only get you so far. One can have all the knowledge in the world and still be a complete flounder in social events. That's why nobles are in power and scientists are holed up in their laboratories."

"You mean like Genis trying to talk to Presea?" The smaller of the two started to put the pieces together. "He's really smart, but can't string two sentences together around her."

"Exactly."

Lloyd's face glowed with ebullience. These lessons would get more people to listen to him and, better yet, help half elves get more accepted? If that was true, he'd give a hundred and ten percent worth of effort and he didn't care if the professor said you couldn't go over a hundred. He'd find a way.

'Guess Colette was right.' The first grade swordsman enthused in his head. 'Kratos DOES know a whole lot of stuff that'll help.' Though, as he thought on, something he'd seen the last time he'd visited the capitol set a funny taste in his mouth, one that wouldn't go away.

"But.. if that's true, then why have I seen a bunch of rude upper class people?" He asked apprehensively. Lloyd knew this was just being semantic of him he supposed, but the nobles in Meltokio always seemed so snooty and rude. That didn't seem very polished at all. Of course, they could have just been that way to him, due to his 'rube-ishness', as Zelos put it, but even so. How polished could someone be if they weren't nice to everyone, not just to people who they thought were worth it?

However, instead of looking aggravated, Kratos folded his arms and gave Lloyd a look of... Lloyd practically swallowed his tongue.

It was a look of approval.

"A very good question, Lloyd." The seraphim responded sagely. "That is because while they are of a high station, they are crass, superficial and thus are not worthy of being called an aristocrat." Lloyd stared in astonishment. Zelos, and Regal to a lesser extent, had always talked of the aristocracy with such zeal that Lloyd figured they all had to have all walked on water and cried diamonds, but here was Kratos, calling them on what they really were, regardless of money or standing. Flicking the rogue strand of chestnut hair out of his face, Lloyd glanced down at his shirt sleeve and grinned.

And to think all this time he thought he'd been the crazy one to think they were all way too proud of themselves for doing all of nothing.

"Lloyd, you must remember that being born in a noble position does not make one a noble." Kratos' voice broke Lloyd out of his stupor and his head shot up at attention. "The actions and the words you employ are what divide the true gentlemen from the collective 'nouveau riche'."

Lloyd raised a eyebrow.

"What's 'nouveau riche' mean?"

"Those who have acquired immense wealth, yet have none of the grace or dignity of their position as they should. Those people flaunt their money and frivolously buy pointless material goods in order to boast."

"Oh. So you mean like that one noble who has that solid gold carriage?" The scrawny six year old hooked a thumb out the window just as the solid gold encrusted chariot that had previously been parked in the noble's quarters lumbered past. Kratos spared it a paltry glance, cringed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Lloyd tried not to laugh.

He failed.

"Yes. That is a prime example." The archaic angelic lord heaved a rankled sigh. "It is imperative you do not stray down such a road." Lloyd drew up his nose in disgust at the mere idea. Him, have something stuffy like that? Yeah right, and he was gonna wear lace underwear. No, that was never going to happen. That over decorated wagon was way too expensive for his pocket money and to be honest, it just wasn't his style. The people carrier was just too frilly and frankly, Lloyd hadn't believed it possible for a carriage to be frilly. However, that nightmare with wheels proved him wrong.

"Like I'd ever do that." He snarked into his palm. "They shouldn't be spending all that money on stupid stuff when there are people who need help in the slums. They should be donating it."

He must've said something good, because Kratos looked at him with that same approving look as before and patted his shoulder before adjourning back to the table and plucking a book from underneath the wrappings.

"Very good." The elder swordsman commented, flipped open the book and indicated for Lloyd to stand. "Let's begin with the first lesson. Posture."

"Posture." Lloyd repeated, sliding off the edge of the bed while eyeing Kratos with a great deal of suspicion. "What's wrong with my posture?"

"It's askew." Kratos replied with half lidded eyes. "You need to stand with dignity and grace. And to be honest, from this angle you appear to be lilting." Lloyd felt his cheeks burn, but tried to keep his attitude and mouth from getting him dish duty again.

"Okay, fine." He admitted after biting down on his first smart remark. "But just how are you going to fix my posture?" Kratos turned back to the table, picked up something long and wooden and held it out for Lloyd to see.

"A ruler? How's that gonna help?" Lloyd asked, confused at what a ruler had to do with etteakit or whatever the heck it was.

"Like this." Ruler in hand, the seraphim swiftly crossed the room and poked Lloyd in the back with it.

"Ow!" Lloyd squawked and glared over his shoulder at the offender with the ruler. "That hurt!"

"The ruler will not move." Kratos explained calmly, despite being seethed at by a first grade version of Lloyd. "If you do not wish to be poked with ruler, stand up straight."

Lloyd wasn't at all happy with this lesson, in fact he was downright agitated, but to be fair, Kratos' method did work. Five minutes later, he was standing much straighter, straighter than he ever remembered himself doing even when he was his normal size.

Maybe there was method to his madness after all. Maybe Lloyd would someday figure it out. That was, if he could figure it out without getting a ruler impaled through his spine.

* * *

"Wait!" Colette shrieked as loudly as she could after Yuan, though she wasn't sure he could hear her. With the wind billowing through her ears, her shoes clattering on the cobblestones and the constant chatter of the crowds around, her pleas could easily be drowned out if she let up for even an instant. However, the wishes of the mind and the capabilities of the body divided themselves drastically, so before she knew what had happened, Colette clung to a street lamp pole, gasping for breath like a shore bound fish, her sides splitting in furious retribution. As she clamored to the pole, the bantam blonde watched in agonized distress as Yuan's blue hair drifted farther and farther away from her, smocked in a sea of scientists and students.

"He... he can't leave." She breathed through her nose, her back and shoulders wracked with stress. "Not... yet." Despite her lungs burning with air and her legs feeling like lead, Colette couldn't give up her pursuit. The little ring in her pocket was counting on her.

'He's left it before because he got too distracted.' Colette chanted in her head between throbs in her temples. 'I can't let him leave again!' Regardless of what she felt like she wanted to do, the tiny angel yanked her head upward again and scanned around to see exactly where Yuan had left and if she still had a chance. With her eyes hazed and glazed with fatigue, she could barely spot Yuan's aqua ponytail, the man to whom it belonged having stopped to talk with another scientist at the end of the street where the lamps met the sewer manhole. Colette grinned, even though her facial muscles screamed with aches. This was her chance. Summoning what energy she had left, the cherubim chosen forced herself to release her grip from the lamppost, dashed down the stone walk and bounded into the street towards the seraphim commander.

"Yuan, stop!" The tiny cherub bellowed, leapt into the air and clutched onto his cape with a grip that would have choked a stump. Unfortunately, her aim was off and she only managed to grapple onto the end of his cape, which then let her land gracelessly in a mud puddle with an almighty 'sploosh'.

"Yuan, don't move!" Colette gasped between her hard breathing, her hand already shoved into the oversized pocket of Lloyd's spare shirt. "I have something... that... that you left."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Huh?" Colette stopped rummaging. That didn't sound like Yuan. Yuan's voice was much deeper and not so... crackly.

Horrified at what she might see, the tiny kindergardener peeked up from her pocket to see a pockmarked faced teenager with a blue ponytail and a soggy cloak staring back at her, looking none too happy.

"And... uh... why'd you attack my school clothes?" The kid gestured to the cape she was still sitting on and yanked it out from underneath her.

"You mean... you're not..." Colette covered her mouth and squeaked. What had she done? "Oh, I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else."

"You're sorry? I'm the sorry one." The student yanked the cape up out of the puddle, sniffed at it and moaned. "So much for my new laundry."

"I'm really, really sorry!"

"Aw, leave her alone, Billy. She probably just thought you were her Daddy or somethin'" Another student with a hooked nose prodded the impostor's shoulder. "Besides, you call that clean? I've seen pigs in a stye clean it better."

"Hey, I spent a whole can of freshener on this!" Billy protested.

"Yeah, and it shows along with reeks. Come on, you. I'll even go with you this time to make sure you don't get mauled by any more kindergardeners." The second student, who Colette figured was probably Billy's girlfriend, pointed back at the laundromat across the street.

"Yeah, yeah." Billy nodded and trudged off with his girlfriend back across the street, leaving Colette alone to sit in the mud puddle.

Colette sniffed, a drop of water hanging off the wink of her nose. After all that effort, there she sat, soaked to the bone, too exhausted to think straight and absolutely miserable. She'd tried so hard to get Yuan his ring back to him and in all that confusion 'cause of the crowd, she'd ended up following someone else who wasn't even close. And, to make matters even worse, Yuan was no where to be seen. She'd completely lost him. Now how was she gonna give him his ring back?

'I'm so stupid, how could I have lost him?' Colette admonished herself as she pitifully gandered down her reflection in the puddle, the frigid air of Sybak biting at her face and arms. 'I was so close and now he's gone. Now how am I gonna find him?' Glaring at herself, Colette struck the puddle in disgruntlement and wiped some water droplets off her face with her sleeve. Were they tears? Maybe, they could have been. She couldn't really feel her numb face enough to tell whether or not it was burning with distress, nor did she care. She was far too angry and disappointed with her sub par tracking skills.

As the ripples in the puddle dissipated, the petite angel saw herself come back into view in the stagnant water, but this time something was off about the puddle. Instead of one face peering back at her, now she counted two reflections in the dank muddy water.

One of the reflections was hers and the other had a distinctly bright blue ponytail.

"Colette, why are you sitting in a puddle?" The reflection inquired, though judging from the expression, it didn't really want to know. Gasping, the chosen cherub's head sprung upwards and she beamed.

"Yuan!" Colette crowed, happier than she'd been all day. " I'm so happy I found you!" Yuan wasn't deterred.

"You. Puddle. Why." He repeated. Colette giggled uncomfortably and ruffled her soaked hair.

I was... uh... thinking."

The half elf commander raised one very Kratos-esque eyebrow.

"In a puddle."

"Er... well, I was tired from sprinting and I kinda landed in it... but that's not important. I have something for you." Colette vaulted out of the puddle, re-fished her hand into her pocket and enclosed it around his ring in a tight fist on the off chance she dropped it and had to chase it down a storm drain.

However, Yuan's reaction wasn't what she'd been expecting. He didn't seem interested in what she had for him. Instead he was inspecting her forehead like she'd just whacked it on the corner of a coffee table.

"You sprinted in your condition?" The renegade seraphim drilled incredulously, his palm flat against her forehead. "What on earth possessed you to do that? Do you know how sick you could have gotten?" Sighing in the same vein Raine applied when lecturing a daydreaming Lloyd, Colette peeled Yuan's hand off her water sodden fringe and held it out palms up.

"You forgot your ring." Colette explained, and opened her tight fist so the shiny silver creation could glimmer a hello to its true owner. She then grinned, dropped the ring into the center of his palm and poked him for good measure.

"You shouldn't run off like that. I had it to give for you for days now, but you just ran off without so much as a goodbye." The petite angel chastised, poking his palm again. "The professor's always griping at Lloyd to be more patient, but maybe you ought to listen to her too. A little patience goes a long way to getting your stuff back, y'know." Yuan didn't reply. He was too occupied with staring at the ring, emerald eyes riddled with perplexity.

"... my ring?" The seraphim turncoat finally asked when he managed to locate where he'd hidden his voice. "You had my ring?"

"I didn't have it, Lloyd did." Colette corrected and poked him in the center of his palm a third time. "I asked him for it when we were at his house and he handed it over 'cause it was in his pocket. So, I've been trying to give it back to you ever since, which was about two days ago, and when I saw you here, I couldn't let my chance slide by. Unfortunately, I ended up following somebody else and... kinda ruined his laundry. I still feel bad about that. Why are you here anyway?" Despite her saying all of that incredibly fast, Yuan just nodded periodically between sentences, though never taking his eyes off the ring.

"You were trying to return it?" He murmured, turning over the ring in his palm with a gentle tilt of his wrist.

"Of course I was trying to return it." Colette told him fervently, a little upset he might've thought she'd do anything less. "I remembered the look on your face when I told you about the ring Lloyd found, so it must be really important to you. I bet you missed it a whole lot."

"It is... and I did."

"So, if it's that important to you, I just had to get it back to you. It's the right thing to do. You just kinda forgot about it when the world tried getting eaten, though I don't blame you. It was a really busy day. So, I remembered for you."

Nodding once more in agreement, Yuan slipped the ring onto his left ring finger and inspected it.

"Colette, thank you."

"You're... you're welcome." Colette tried to say, but a barbarous yawn cut her off midway. "I'm happy... I co.. could help." She yawned again into her palm, and suddenly her eyelids felt like lead curtains that threatened to crash down without a moment's notice. Frowning, Yuan gently cupped Colette's chin in his hand and brought it up at an angle so their eyes met.

"Colette, are you alright?" The renegade seraphim inquired, his attention riveted on her irises. Blinking to keep him in focus, Colette tried to nod, but found it particular difficult since he was holding up her chin.

"... I'm tired." She yawned again, eyes barely open. "Sprinting... is hard." Without a warning, Colette's eyes lost focus, her body went limp and she crashed into Yuan's shoulder, soaked to the bone, but out for the count.

* * *

"Oh, what's taking her so long?" Sheena flustered as she marched back and forth outside the steps of the library. The instant she'd realized Colette had gone after Yuan, the puny ninja had been all for chasing her down, but Raine had stopped her for some reason she couldn't understand. If she'd run out into the bustle of traffic, chances were pretty good someone would've dragged her back by now.

"Why can't we get a move on and go find Colette?" She demanded to Zelos, who lounged about the steps.

"Hell if I know." He responded lazily, his hair draped across the steps like a scarlet octopus. "The professor seems to think she should have a chance to go find the angel fruit cake, though I couldn't tell you what for."

"Yeah, Raine, why are we waiting?" Genis perked from his perch. "If we'd gone after him like that, you woulda had a cow." From where she sat on the stone stairs, Raine peeked up from her book and sent them all a glare that successfully quelled their rebellion on pain of bifurcation.

"There's a perfectly good reason why I do not wish to pursue Colette." The pocket sized professor responded icily. "If you remember Sheena, Colette was very interested in locating Yuan when we were still at Lloyd's house, correct?"

"... yeah, I think I remember something like that." Sheena inclined, scratching at her puff. "But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Obviously Colette has something which she needs to discuss with him. In Private." Raine emphasized as she closed her book and stretched. "And having us listening in at a close proximity might hinder his chattiness. He's already proven to know more than he's telling. He already knew what illness Colette suffered from before Altessa's diagnosis and he even gave me that book with the unicorn cure instructions. If this conversation yields any more pressing information, we'd best not interfere. I'm not risking anything just because no one has any patience, not when Colette's life is at risk."

"And so we just let her meander in and out of the streets by herself in the hopes of catching him, regardless of what may lurk in the shadows." Zelos twiddled his fingers through his hair and snorted. "Do you even listen to yourself?" Raine's nostrils flared.

"... two more minutes and then we'll look." She acquiesced truculently and quickly resumed her place in her tome. In front of the gigantic library lion, Regal stood like a statue, skimming over the crowds of heads for any sign of their wayward friend. Upon letting his eyes pass over a space in the far side of the square, he jumped down with a flump next to Raine and pointed off towards the corner.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about looking for her." The preteen reported. Sheena rubbernecked her eyes at Regal.

"What do you mean?" She pressed.

"He means to say Colette is in the nearby vicinity." Presea elaborated, still perched upon the head of the lion while clutching the white beret that threatened to blow about in the wind. "And Yuan is accompanying her. They will arrive shortly."

"He is?" The slight summoner gaped and quickly swiveled herself in the same direction that Regal pointed. Sure enough, from amidst the waning crowds, she could just barely catch a glimpse of Yuan, who strode towards them with one very limp, very unconscious and very wet Chosen held in one arm.

"'Accompanying'?" Zelos recoiled in disgust as he reached Sheena's side. "More like 'The Half Elf Express, blue line'. I suppose if you're gonna go somewhere, that's the way to go about doing it. Have someone else carry you. That's why I think all those toddlers in strollers have it way too good. Why doesn't anyone carry me?"

"Because your head's too swollen for anyone to lift." Sheena chafed brusquely. "Now shut it." Zelos sent her a none too endearing glare, but for once buttoned it. Sheena tried not to gawk. Zelos actually was paying attention to what was going on without much griping. Still, while Yuan'd helped them just days before, that was then and this was now. They had to live in the moment. When it came to treaties with Yuan and the renegades, they could last for a few weeks or a few hours, depending on his mood. Apparently the dumb Chosen had sensed the situation for what it was as well, a potentially dangerous one, and decided to keep his opinions and comments to himself. A true sign the apocalypse was drawing closer. Or... maybe Zelos was actually maturing. Maybe he was finally acting like an adult.

"Hey, Rhapsody in Blue. Saw you spying on us over there." Zelos greeted wryly with a capricious grin plastered to his boyish face. "So nice of you to grace us with an encore appearance. What happened, you drop your hairspray?"

And maybe she'd put something nasty in Zelos' food the next time she cooked.

"Why are you all still in Tethe'alla?" Yuan snapped at all of them, completely forsaking the insult issued by the philanderous Chosen to be.

"And a hello to you too." Genis grunted, disgusted at the elder man's lack of pleasantries. Yuan showered him with an impetuous black look, but didn't respond. Sheena took in a deep breath and tried not to swallow her tongue. Normally Lloyd would be the one to talk smack with someone like Yuan, but since he wasn't there and frankly, no one else was volunteering besides Zelos who was probably going to get them all killed at the rate he was going, it looked like she was going to be the one to take up the task of filling more than just his spare shirt.

"Alright, I get you're pressed for time, so I'll make this brief." She began while taking a ginger step forward and thrusting one accusing finger at Colette's dozing body. "I want to know what you did to Colette. She was just fine a minute ago."

"She tired herself out trying to chase me down. I did nothing, but slow down." The seraphim renegade commander elaborated stiffly. "You shouldn't have left her to wander about on her own. Anyone in her condition should be under constant surveillance."

"Told you, Raine." Zelos cast a sideways smug grin at the professor, but quickly wiped it from his face when she held up her book and aimed for his head.

"Regardless, you didn't answer my question." Yuan fixed his attention on the puff of the temporary spokesperson. "What are you all still doing here? I thought I told you to follow that book and take care of the illness. Why haven't you gone to see the unicorn? She's still very ill."

"We can't see the unicorn." Sheena replied.

"Of course not, you're in Tethe'alla. Unicorns are only found in Sylvarant." He retorted fractiously.

"There's more to it than that. Even if we were in Sylvarant, there's not a chance we could see the unicorn."

"And just why is that?" Yuan pressed, his tone and cape rankled.

"The unicorn's dead. It died when we were traveling to the Tower of Salvation." Genis spoke up suddenly as he took a step forwards to meet Sheena's front line. "We don't know how much time we have left to go looking for a recipe for a cure, let alone go running around Sylvarant looking for a unicorn that may or may not be alive or old enough to do anything. You see the problem?"

Yuan's eyes widened, his breath hitched and he ran a hand over his face, which teemed with splenetic tension.

"Dammit, now what?" He muttered to himself more than anyone else. "Without that unicorn's horn, it'll be all for-"

"Wait, we have the horn!" Sheena interjected and held out her hand to the paltry professor. "Raine quick, throw me the horn!" In the span of two seconds, Raine dove into her pack, retrieved the horn and pitched it at the slight summoner, who caught it like a fastball and held it aloft for Yuan to inspect.

"See? What do you think?" She pried hopefully, dropping it onto his hand. "You think it's enough?" The cerulean haired seraph eyed the horn for what seemed like eternity, until he eventually affirmed and handed the horn back.

"It should be enough for what you require." He evaluated while still watching the horn in her grasp. "Go to the king's archival study in the Tethe'allan castle. Check in the ancient war section. You should find a book there that will tell you how to supplement the horn with a keycrest." Yuan then made to leave, but a barrier of four other children blocked his way and kept him from departing, especially the one with the beret and the very sharp looking axe.

"Hold on, we're not done with you yet." Sheena tugged on his cape. "And just where do you think you're going with Colette?" Glowering, Yuan carefully yanked his cloak out of her grip and smoothed it out with his free hand.

"If you keep dragging her all around both worlds on a wild protozoan chase, all you will do is aggravate her condition." Yuan divulged, his whole countenance breviloquent and churlish. "What the Chosen requires is rest and she won't be able to get that by galavanting to Niflheim and back with the likes of you."

"Wild... _what_ chase?"

"... It doesn't matter. Just get done what you must and contact me when you have the ingredients. I will make sure she is there for her appointment." He made to leave again, and most of the barrier skirted aside to let him pass. All, except the professor.

"Before you go, I wanna know something." The peremptory professor scowled shrewdly at the angelic anarchist. "The unicorn said that it was alive to heal Martel's sickness. What did it mean? I know you know, Yuan. You knew what Colette's sickness was before we even got her diagnosed. You know more than you're saying."

Yuan's face drained from choleric disdain to nothing more than a stone efface with a breathing body attached.

"... that's ancient history. Just focus on the now." He growled, obviously trying to hold onto any self control he possessed. Sheena took a step back. Yuan was getting angry and she remembered him mildly annoyed when they had broken into his base for the rheairds. It was a little hard to forget. If it hadn't been for Lloyd coming in at the last instant and kicking the wind right out of him with a blow from behind, they probably wouldn't even have been in Sybak or anywhere for that matter. And, to be honest, she really didn't want to see him angry or provoked.

"Now guys, maybe we shouldn't-

"But Martel was sick, right?" Genis refuted, taking a step in place with his sister and scratching at his back at the same time. "How can a goddess get sick? And I remember the unicorn thought Colette was Martel. Did Martel have the same sickness?"

"... Go do what you must. Contact me when you've completed your task. Until then, I have nothing more to say to you." Yuan said through clenched teeth and succinctly strode past Raine, down the road and out past the front gates of Sybak. In his wake, Raine looked disgusted, as did Genis, Regal looked as impassive as Presea, Zelos looked bored, and Sheena let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding onto in the first place.

"Well, he's gone. Again." Thoroughly grateful her impromptu interrogation didn't end with Yuan decapitating anyone for stress relief, the acute assassin sat down on the front step of the library and flopped her chin into her hand. "And now so's Colette."

"Despite my grievances against him, I can't deny he may have a point." Raine cogitated aloud as she joined Sheena on the steps. "Colette shouldn't be traveling around if she's so ill she garnered his, albeit inept and poorly expressed, concerns."

"He did seem rather concerned about her indeed." Regal added as an afterthought. "I may be looking into this a bit much, but if he knew someone who suffered the same sort of illness, old feelings could regenerate themselves in a new incarnation very easily."

"Like Alicia and myself." Presea concluded.

"... very much like that, I'm afraid. You mentioned that the unicorn said its purpose was to cure Martel's illness. Perhaps he knew someone named Martel who suffered from a condition much like Colette's."

"Well, he is technically in Cruxis, so wouldn't that person named Martel be... y'know, THE Martel? The goddess? Her holiness herself?" Zelos pointed out curiously. "Just like the kid said before, how the hell does a goddess get sick?"

"I don't know." The professor sighed. "Still, it's highly possible that a mortal named Martel suffered such an illness. Martel is a popular woman's name."

"So if we go with your theory, Martel was a real woman and not a construct of Cruxis?" Regal pressed.

"It's possible that could be true. Most legends are based in truth, after all. Perhaps Martel is just a symbol used to control the populace, but there is a complete possibility that someone named Martel did live at some point and could have had the same sickness. It's rare, but not unheard of."

"But... the church of Martel has been around for centuries, hasn't it?" Genis asked.

"Way more than centuries, shorty." Zelos circled his finger around in the air. "Try millennia. At least four, from what I remember from those stories the clergy forced down my throat."

"So wouldn't that make Yuan really old? I mean, seriously ancient?" The precocious preschooler gaped. "If he was around to know someone like Martel, he'd have to be older than... well, everything. And I've never heard of an elf that could live that long. He's only a half elf, remember? How'd he pull that off?"

"That I don't know either." Raine pinched the bridge of her nose. "But something tells me we won't get any answers dwelling on it here. Yuan said there was a section on the Ancient war in the library in Castle Tethe'alla. While we look for a cure, let's see what we can dig up when we get there."

"You mean, IF we get there." Zelos corrected. "Remember all the security and crap we've gotta get past. This is gonna take some guts, that's for sure. But, we don't have any better ideas, so take it like you've got it."

"So, we're gonna do what we were doing anyway?"

"Yes, but now we have more than just a theory to go on."

"Okay, I guess. But what if he hands Colette over to Cruxis?" Genis rubbed his back against the side of the stairwell wall. "He could just fork her over to Yggdrasill and then what'd we do?"

"I wouldn't worry about that." Zelos shook his head. "He wouldn't dare try it. He's got too much at stake and can't afford to make any other enemies."

"Then why'd he ambush us back in that forest when we first shrank?"

"I dunno, but whatever it was, it didn't feel like he wanted to ambush us again this time. I think running into him here was more like a coincidence than anything else."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Zelos. He didn't look like he'd been looking for us. Now that I think about it, I think he tried ducking us because he didn't want us to think he was spying. Great how that worked out." Sheena laughed bitterly, but stopped when a thought crossed her mind, a niggling little note that refused to budge. "Though now that I think about it, this is the most interest he's taken in us ever since Lloyd left with Kratos. Didn't he say the first time we actually talked to him that he had use for Lloyd? What if that's why he ambushed us, to get to Lloyd when he was smaller and easier for the picking? If that was it, he wouldn't have any reason for catching us off guard now. Lloyd's not here."

"That's not half a bad idea. But, for what purposes does he wish to acquire Lloyd?" The tiny teacher pondered with her chin perched in the crux of her thumb and forefinger. "His angelic abilities, perhaps?"

"I don't think so. He was after Lloyd long before all that angelly stuff popped up. There's got to be another reason."

"It's not gonna be a nice reason either. I think we can all agree on that one." The casanova to be shuddered. "We should see what we can dig up on that blue bandit when we go to the castle. Maybe there's something there that'll give us a clue. I may not agree with everything, but it's really clear he knows way more than he's saying. I say we do what the professor said, give it the whole college pry and see what we can dig up on him."

"Sounds good." Sheena nodded and held up her hand in the air. "All those in favor?"

"Aye." Everyone chorused, hands raised equally as high.

"Good, then let's get a move on." She instructed and marched out of the town, the others hot on her heels.

Well, almost all the others.

"Genis, are you alright?" Presea glanced over her shoulder at Genis, who still was itching at his back like he had fleas.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine." He grinned in an effort to reassure her, though it ended up looking like he had a severe case of gas. "My shoulder blade's just itchy."

"I see." She replied after appraising him and patted his shoulder. "You must have dry skin. You should moisturize."

"Hey... you think this is okay, letting him just skirt off Colette like that?" Zelos whispered, tilting his head over over Sheena's clavicle. "She is kinda... important and we can't cure her if she's not here. The whole thing sets my teeth on edge."

"I don't like it either, but if my instincts are anything to go by," The petite puffball returned in a hushed hiss, "I think you should be more worried about him than her."

* * *

"How long do I have to keep balancing all these books on my head?" Lloyd whimpered as he swayed back and forth in a desperate effort to keep 'Manners in the Summer' from falling on his face. From over in his chair, Kratos glanced up from what he was reading, eyed the flailing boy and returned his gaze to his novel.

"As long as it takes to rectify your posture." He replied, lackadaisically flipping a page. "You have a sloped back when you walk and it takes away from your appearance. You might have mastered standing straight yesterday, but standing and walking are two different endeavors entirely." Overtop his book and the rim of his reading glasses, Kratos could just spot Lloyd giving him a dirty look, yet resumed his careful marching with nary another word. The age old angel smirked to himself while he once again immersed himself in his book. It was certainly a nice change to see Lloyd making progress in controlling that hot temper and tongue of his. Kratos understood all too well what an unbridled temper could do under fire and if Lloyd was to master diplomacy, he'd do well to keep it under lock and key, lest he cause an inferno.

"I remember the professor teaching us that spines are naturally curved in order to help people walk upright." The paltry boy's voice piped across the room "Are you sure I'm not gonna end up breaking something by doing this?" Letting out what seemed to be the eighteenth groan of strained patience, Kratos removed his glasses and ran a hand over his face. For someone as reckless and appentent as Lloyd, when he wanted to be, he could be so paranoid.

"For the fourth time, no, Lloyd. You will not break anything." The seraphim responded, completely exacerbated. "You will be perfectly fine not looking like your spine is a loose spring attached to legs. Keep walking." Probably feeling snubbed, Lloyd mock saluted and resumed walking.

"Yes, your majesty." He retorted, tilting his head back to keep the books steady. "Anything else?" Kratos looked up from his book again and shot Lloyd a gaze that would have curled Yuan's hair.

"Yes. Watch your tone. Snippiness gets you nowhere in life."

"... sorry." Lloyd murmured, though his tone suggested he was anything but. "How am I doing?" Setting down his book on the side table, Kratos briefly appraised Lloyd's posture and nodded once.

"Fair so far. Better than before, anyway." He assessed. "You've yet to land on your face." Lloyd looked less than amused.

"Y'know, if you hadn't left my swords out, I wouldn't have tripped on them."

"And since when are your swords my responsibility? That should be enough for now. You may rest briefly and then we will adjourn to your next lesson."

Letting out a crow of happiness, Lloyd immediately lifted the books off his head and dumped them in a pile. Kratos frowned in disapproval at Lloyd's unconstrained methods of removing balancing materials, but tried not to let it show. If he said anything else, he would just see unnecessarily captious and that was not the point of these lessons. He was going to better Lloyd, not turn him into a paranoid ridden basket case.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why're we stopping this one?" Lloyd asked, massaging his neck and shoulders for all he was capable. Kratos sent a sideways glance at him and smirked.

"Too much more and you may end up with a spine like an accordion." He replied coolly and indicated for Lloyd to sit at the table where a piece of chalk and a miniature blackboard were waiting for him.

The six year old swordsman wrinkled his nose.

"Woo, that'd be just fun as hell." He retorted, his pride chafed, but he did as Kratos instructed and plopped down in the chair facing the larger chalkboard on the wall Kratos had installed.

"Watch your language." The seraph chastised sharply, sending a stern stare directly at the younger boy. Lloyd jolted at the sudden rebuke, but nonetheless capitulated and looked at his lap, thoroughly castigated.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Just don't do it." Kratos responded calmly while he picked up a piece of chalk and turned to face Lloyd full on. "Now then, it's time you learn the fundamentals of life."

"You mean like the birds and the bees talk?" Lloyd asked.

"Not that, Lloyd." Kratos sighed tiredly, already starting the headache kick in. "Hopefully you've already had that discussion." The seraph paused a moment, lost in thought, and glanced at Lloyd.

"You have... had that talk... haven't you?"

"Yeah, when I was like twelve." Lloyd shrugged. "Of course, they used frogs in a fish bowl as the model in class, so-"

"I don't need to know the rest, thank you." Kratos interrupted, silently grateful THAT subject he wouldn't have to explain. "Anyway, today you will be learning the fundamentals in which to base your life. I'm referring to the Code of Chivalry."

"Oh, you mean that thing you were talking about when I asked you all those questions?"

"Yes, and it's much more than a 'thing', Lloyd." the seraph quickly jotted down 'Chivalry' across the board and underlined it twice for emphasis. "The Code of Chivalry is the list of ethics and values a person should live and die by. With that code comes a promise to uphold those values in the face of life's many trials and even in death." Noting the quiet air, Kratos shifted his eyes from the chalkboard to Lloyd, who waited patiently with his hand stretched up into the air. Heh, so the boy was getting into the swing of things after all. This boded quite well.

"Yes, Lloyd?"

"That sounds great and all, but how the heck is someone supposed to uphold the Code of Chivalry if they're dead?" Lloyd queried. "Why can't they live?" Kratos cast his gaze to the side in thought. Leave it to Lloyd to ask a difficult question three minutes into the lesson. Well, to quote Anna, if he was old enough to ask, he was old enough to know. Just how would he go about answering...

"People fight and die for what they believe in, or for a cause they deem to be important." The archaic angel carefully articulated. "That may include chivalry as well, if they believe in it to a very strong degree."

"But why do they have to die? Is that required?"

"No, it's not required, but I'd be lying to you if I told you it never occurred. Or are you saying some things aren't worth fighting for?"

"Fighting maybe, but dying no." Lloyd rebuffed. "There's no point in dying. If you die, how would you be a good example to others? You can't very well do anything if you're not alive." Kratos went to answer, but stopped himself before he spoke. This topic... hit a little too close to home for comfort. While he knew Lloyd meant nothing by it, the boy had no idea of what awaited in the nearby future, what he would do, what he must do.

The origin seal. What would Lloyd think when he found out about it or rather, what had to be done if the worlds were to be saved. Kratos snorted. Probably not much. In fact, he wouldn't be shocked if there was a hissy fit involved. While he didn't necessarily wish to die, at this point, Kratos hadn't earned any sort of reprieve and it would be insanely selfish to ask for a pardon now. Not after all he'd done in his life. No, he had to go through with it, and there was no backing out. He was the seal and the seal had to be broken. Unfortunately, that meant him too.

Still, while he didn't like talking about things of this nature, perhaps it would be best to begin immersing Lloyd with the topic so it wouldn't be such a jolt to his systems when the time came. If anything, he would make sure he left Lloyd with the preparations and materials necessary to fulfill the task, not just leave him to cope with nothing. He wouldn't dare be that careless. He'd make sure Lloyd was ready, that much he could do for his only son.

"Maybe so, but the legacy they would leave would perhaps make a sizable mark." Kratos suggested, "If someone taught or affected another in a positive light, when that person came to terms and finally... passed on, their student or friend or... family would remember them and carry out their wishes in their memory, should there be any specific wishes they requested. So, in a way, as long as the memory of you lives, you never really die. Not really."

Lloyd wasn't convinced. In fact, he was so not convinced, he looked like his birthday had been cancelled.

"...but... that's not fair at all." The downtrodden six year old shoulders sagged into his chest. "They should live, not die. If it were me, I'd rather be around to see my hard work pay off, not just have someone remember me as an afterthought." Kratos bit back a bitter laugh. No, no it wasn't fair. But, then again, when was his life ever anywhere close to being fair? It would be nice to see hard work pay off in the end, but Kratos had learned a hard lesson millennia ago that idealism was great until the bill came. And there was always a price. He had to be realistic.

"I don't know how many times I've said this, but I'll say it again. Life's not fair." The seraphim swordmaster tapped his piece of chalk onto the rim of the chalkboard. "Sometimes bad things happen to good people and there's nothing to be done, even when you try. Sometimes, especially when you try. Some things you just can't fix."

"I can't accept that." Lloyd rebuked, his childish features wracked with ardent tenacity. "It's not right to expect anyone to die for anything, I don't care what the circumstances are."

Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Are your referring to the Chosen again?"

"Not just Colette, I mean anyone. Seriously, if I got put in a situation that to win meant I had to make someone give up their life, I'd rather lose."

"... in time, you may feel otherwise. Life isn't always that simple, Lloyd."

"Maybe it isn't, but I don't think you should give up just because things look bleak." Lloyd folded his arms against his chest. "There's always a way. You just need to look outside the box."

While he was rather exacerbated at Lloyd's blatant refusal of the truth as it stood, Kratos had to admire his son's profound idealism when it came to the lives of others. That trait his son carried had to be one of the most aggravating, yet endearing qualities he had. The value of life so deeply ingrained in his head he'd do anything to keep others from sacrificing themselves. No needless deaths. No deaths at all if he could help it. The ancient seraphim half smiled. Had it still been the days when he was young, the boy would have made a fine knight.

"Heh... you're rather wise for one so young, if a bit wet behind the ears." Kratos approbated modestly. Lloyd's ears turned red at the praise, yet he sent the elder man a half baked scowl.

"I'm not that young. I'm almost an adult. And my ears are perfectly dry." He griped, but broke into a sheepish grin halfway through.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're a little far from your original mark. Go through puberty again and perhaps you will have some ground from which to speak about adulthood. Now then, let's get back on track." Kratos admonished equally as half hearted and turned his attention back to the chalkboard. "First and foremost, are the principles of Chivalry, the most basic yet essential blocks of the code."

"'Principals'? But I thought I was gonna have you teach me by yourself." Lloyd interrupted.

"Principles, not 'principals'. Now be quiet and pay attention."

"And where'd you get that chalkboard?"

"I had to do something while you were sparring with the clothing clerks, didn't I?" Kratos retorted impetuously. "Now, chivalry has a long history and tradition within the cultures of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla dating back to the days of the hero Mithos-"

"Whoa, it's THAT old?" Lloyd gawked.

"... yes."

"Yeesh, that's really old, like super old! Older than Colette's grandma old."

Kratos' eye twitched. Again with the old comments?

"She's not that old, Lloyd."

"She is so. I like Phaidra, but you gotta admit she looks like a prune left out in the sun."

"... That's essentially what a prune is, but I digress. For the second time, let's get back on track." Kratos tapped the chalkboard to draw Lloyd's fickle attention span back to the topic at hand. "Now while there are many different aspects of Chivalry, for the sake of time, I shall summarize the main tenants into pieces you can understand without going into a lengthy explanation. Your books may say otherwise, but I am merely paraphrasing and I can safely say my knowledge trumps that of the books' authors."

"So, you really know a whole lot about this kinda stuff, huh?" Lloyd asked, propping the side of his head up with his hand.

"That's one way to put it." The seraphim acknowledged. "Let's just say I've been around long enough to know more about this sort of thing than the authors."

"So a bunch of college students wrote these books?" The younger of the two asked.

"Make that historian professors."

"... you don't look too happy when you say that." Lloyd observed Kratos and cringed slightly at the seraph's suddenly sour... er demeanor.

"Lloyd, I know for a fact that most of their knowledge is hearsay. It's a little demeaning to know that my area of expertise has been rendered into a footnote that isn't even wholely accurate."

"Oh... is that why you never liked it when the Professor went off on one of her rants?"

"That was one reason, yes. Now, focus. The first virtue of chivalry that you need to know is valour. " Kratos quickly wrote down the word and underlined it so to further accentuate the first rule.

"Valour?" Lloyd blinked confusedly. "Isn't that the stuff they make lounge suits out of? Zelos was showing off a few pairs he had."

"No, that's velour, not valour. Valour is in essence courage or bravery, particularly when called to duty or to a task at hand."

"So not being scared of anything?"

"No, not at all." Kratos gestured to 'Valour' on the board. "Though some easily misconstrue its meaning, courage is not fearlessness. Fearlessness leads to recklessness, which then leads to an early grave."

"Oh." Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck. "Then what does it mean?"

"It can mean a variety of things." The seraphim leaned against the chalkboard, eyes locked with his pupil's. "However, to me, having courage is being afraid, yet doing what you have to do anyway in spite of it. Not letting your fear take control and lead you away from what must be done is the true meaning of courage. And, in doing so, valour is upheld."

"Okay, hang on a minute." Lloyd quickly scribbled down on his own chalkboard, dust flying everywhere. "Okay, valour, I've got it."

"Good. Next is justice,and yes I know you hate that word because people use it in inappropriate settings just to further their own agendas. However, that was not for what the word was originally intended, so perhaps you ought to pay attention so as to correct people in the future."

Lloyd gaped at him.

"... how'd you know I was gonna say that?" The slim six year old asked in astonishment, eyebrows on the ceiling.

"Because I know you." Kratos responded, "Justice essentially means to protect those who cannot protect themselves, to oppose evil forces and assist others who are doing so as well."

"... really? No fooling?" Lloyd blinked. "So just doing the right thing and helping those who need it?"

"Precisely, though you could do with a little more polish."

The brown haired boy's chestnut eyebrows furrowed as he delved deep into his thinking.

"So... pretty much do what I've been doing this whole time, but make it look better."

"That's one way to paraphrase, I suppose." The seraphim swordsman confirmed, though he felt he was being rather lax in his own personal standards.

"Paraphrase?"

"A way to shorten something up in a summary, usually one sentence."

"Oh."

Kratos went through the rest of the tenants in that vein, writing them down and explaining them one by one in detail, all the while making sure he expanded on every aspect he could think of.

'I've already covered valour, justice, truth, prowess, loyalty, charity, courtesy, diligence and humility.' The seraph went over his list one by one. 'And Lloyd seems to already possess a great deal of those qualities, so that's at least one aspect I have on my side.' And while that was very true Lloyd possessed the makings of all those qualities, the boy was practically sweating up a storm trying to memorize them all as fast as he could. Kratos frowned. Perhaps he ought to end the lesson before Lloyd's head exploded from the apparent overload of information.

"I think that's enough for now." He announced and, retrieving the eraser from the bar, began to clean the chalkboard. "So, do you have an inkling of the basic concept of what chivalry stands for?"

"I think so, but there are so many things to remember." Lloyd stared at his chalkboard and groaned, his head plastered on his palm. "I don't know if I can remember half of them right now."

"I don't expect you to, Lloyd." Kratos replied offhandedly as he set down the eraser and inspected the board. "These things take time and experience to learn."

"I guess." The bantam boy murmured, though his tone exposed his apprehension like a fox in a hen house with a bell around its neck. "It's just so much to take in all at once."

"That is precisely why practice and repetition in a practical atmosphere are essential to learning the tenants." The stoic swordsman gently removed the personal chalkboard out from Lloyd's death grip and placed it on the bar just below its oversized counterpart. "Once you apply them to your daily routine, they will soon become second nature. Just take your time to learn it right the first time, don't rush, and you'll do fine."

"You think so?" Lloyd peered up from the spot he had been staring at, his cherrywood irises riddled with self doubt. Kratos let out a quick breath of disdain. Did Lloyd really have such little confidence in his intellect that something as trifling as a list sent him practically on the roof with worry? That school he attended must have sent him into quite a state of being if something like that list vexed him so much. If that was the case, he'd definitely have to add 'self confidence in school' to his list of objectives to work Lloyd through. That, and the next time he ran into Raine, she and he were going to have a little heart to heart chat about said schooling which may or may not end with a little threatening here and there. He wasn't truly sure about that just yet though. It would depend on what mood he was in.

"Of course you'll learn it, you're a bright boy. Time is all that is required." Kratos reassured in as gentle a voice he could muster, though for some reason it sounded very much like his deadly whisper inside his head. Thankfully, Lloyd didn't seem to share that opinion, for he just soaked in Kratos' words and for some reason, his eyes were growing larger by the minute.

"You... you think I'm bright?" Lloyd asked, shock reigning through like a cavalry. Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I don't bother with people I believe can't follow along with what I'm saying. I thought that would be obvious by this point." He elaborated stiffly. For as long as Lloyd had been traveling around in the same vicinity as Kratos, the seraphim had figured Lloyd had discovered Kratos' impatience with morons, such as the government officials or the desians of any class. And, since Kratos elected to spend time with Lloyd during that excursion, Lloyd should have placed the pieces together that because Kratos didn't mind spending time with him, that in itself would imply he didn't think Lloyd wasn't a moron. However, apparently he'd been wrong to assume so.

'Now that I think about it, it's a tad convoluted and would probably only make sense to me.' The seraphim swordmaster mused wryly. Still, he could tell from Lloyd's fidgeting he still didn't understand the whole equation for what it was really worth. In fact, he looked positively dumbstruck, if he could pardon the term.

"You seem rather surprised I would believe such a notion." Kratos commented loftily, taking the chair next to his charge.

"To be honest... I kinda am." Lloyd returned, letting the strands of chestnut hair sift through his fingers and fall limp.

"And why might that be?"

"... nobody's ever said that to me before."

Kratos rubbed his right temple and tried to not let his sigh of complete disapproval become audible. Had these people really been this inattentive? No one had ever said he was bright? And Yuan said HE had his head in the clouds when it came to parenting. Good lord.

"Lloyd, listen to me." The seraphim gently gripped Lloyd's shoulders and pivoted him so they was locked in eye contact. "You are not stupid. You have never been stupid. You never will be stupid. You see things others don't. In fact, if one were to revisit all the times you mentioned something about what you saw and your compatriots dismissed your ideas, you'd realize they were the ones who could not see the forest for the trees."

"What's that mean?" Lloyd inquired, cherrywood eyes honed in on Kratos' own.

"It means they were so busy focusing on the minor trivial details they couldn't see the big picture at hand for what it was. I couldn't tell you anything, because at that time I was..."

"Pretending to be a mercenary so you could tag along and trying not to get exposed as being an agent of Cruxis?"

"... in a way, but I was paying attention. You were the only one throughout the entire time who really started to see what was happening. You didn't understand the journey, you questioned it, you even wanted to know why this was all happening in the first place. You asked questions, the others did not. So, as far as I'm concerned, you are much brighter than they are."

".. even brighter than Genis?"

"Extremely."

Lloyd's face wanted to break out in a smug grin, but snagged halfway for a look on uncertainty instead.

"But ... I've done some really dumb stuff in the past and hurt a lot of people. How smart can I be?"

"Very smart people make mistakes just as much as people who aren't. It's part of being human."

Lloyd grinned.

"But I'm not."

"You were initially and who you are initially affects who you are as a person now." The seraph replied, mildly irritated. "It's alright to make mistakes, so long as you learn from them. However, making mistakes does not make you stupid or ignorant. Not knowing is not a crime, but remaining complacent in your ignorance and doing nothing is. You'd do well to remember that."

"Now then," Kratos sat back and retrieved his pocket watch. "It seems about time for your lunch. If you would like to go, clean up the remaining detritus around the room and then you may.

The spiky haired boy nodded in compliance, bounced off the chair and immediately set to tidying up the room. Kratos allowed himself a small smile as he watched Lloyd dash here and there in vigorous strides, a newfound spring in his step. That's all he needed. A little attention, a little praise and just look at the instant results. If this was the reaction to just a hint of parental guidance, Kratos' mind leapt with possibilities on what he could accomplish over a longer expanse of time. Lloyd didn't need a ton of strict adherence to his studies like Raine suggested or rather demanded. He would do better with just a little nudge in the right direction, some field experience and guidance when he didn't quite understand. And, if he was perfectly honest with himself, Kratos was much more comfortable with that anyway.

Perhaps he had some lingering instincts after all.

"Kratos, I'm done!" Lloyd surveyed the room for any more signs of disarray and trotted forward. Kratos followed suit and skimmed his eyes over the room which was, for the most part, spotless.

"Well done. Very clean." The seraphim acceded. "Now I believe it's time for lunch-"

"Great!" The skinny six year old pumped his fist into the air, grinning from ear to ear.

"-which will be a wonderful opportunity for you to practice dining etiquette."

Lloyd's hand and mouth dropped to the floor in horror.

"There are rules for food _too_?" He squeaked.

Snorting in besetment, Kratos landed a hand on Lloyd's shoulder and half nudged, half steered him out the door, and down the stairs to procure lunch.

* * *

"Okay, I get that you want me to learn manners for food." Lloyd scratched the side of his head as he stared at the myriad of plates situated on the table. "But uh... how do you go about doing that?"

"That's what you're here for, Lloyd." Kratos explained. "It's very important you learn to employ these sort of traits early on and believe me, you've needed to learn how to employ dining etiquette for quite a while now.

"Uh... could you simplify that?" The fervent first grader requested.

"Fine. You need to learn how to eat without looking like a buffoon."

"What? Why? I can eat just fine-"

"If by fine, you mean that of a trash compactor set on puree. You have no knowledge of how to properly conduct yourself in a dining setting, something I wish to rectify." The seraphim proceeded towards the table and folded his arms against his chest. "First, we will start with how to approach the table."

"What, you want me to do a cartwheel?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow wryly. Kratos frowned.

"Don't get smart with me. Approach the seat slowly, yet with the posture you were practicing earlier. A straight back is always key."

"Right, straight back, shoulders squared, head held up high, but not nose in the air." Lloyd steadily listed off the posture rules out loud as he approached the table and looked to Kratos for validation once he reached the chair. "Like this?"

"Very good. Now, grip the back of the seat with both of your hands and pull it away from the table, preferably without scuffing the floor." Lloyd did as he was told and gripped the chair, but the chair didn't want to slide out. It was a tad too heavy for him to slide the chair out like a greased engine piston.

"Okay, question." The slight swordsman gestured to the chair with a jerk of his head, though he made sure to keep his back straight. "What do I do when the chair is too heavy to slide out easily?"

"A good question, Lloyd. Simply put more effort into one arm, while still holding on the chair with both hands, and angle the chair out one side at a time. Then reverse your energy to the other hand and so on until the chair is successfully out." Nodding, Lloyd carefully angled the chair inch by inch just like Kratos had suggested. Sure enough, the chair did budge, but only a little amount. It wasn't until after five minutes of effort did the chair finally move out enough he could settle into it with a varying amount of ease.

"That was hard and really heavy." Lloyd breathed tiredly against the chair, his arms screaming bloody murder.

"For your size I'm not surprised." Kratos replied, not having moved an inch. "However you should be prepared for such things, especially since it is customary for a man to pull out a woman's chair and assist her in seating before doing so himself."

"You mean I have to move _more_ chairs?" The distraught boy gawked and gazed back at his own chair in despair. "Oof. I'm just thankful there aren't any girls-"

"-Ladies, Lloyd."

"-_ladies_ in here." Lloyd hastily corrected himself. "I don't want to have to move more of these hulking things. Okay, I moved the chair out. Now what do I do?" Kratos observed him briefly before he pulled out the second chair situated perpendicularly from Lloyd's and gestured for him to sit.

"Seat yourself and we get started."

The following forty five minutes to Lloyd was the equivalent to meal torture. There were so many rules... for FOOD. When to use certain utensils, the different ways to position the utensils while in use or at rest, basic passing rules, where the napkin went depending on the occasion, how to pace himself while eating, how to actually eat with what Kratos called 'dignity and grace' or as he called it, 'snail's pace', what courses came in what order, what to expect when they came, a bunch of other rules he could barely get his mind around and all of this while keeping a straight back.

By the time the meal was over, Lloyd didn't ever want to look at food again.

"Now, that wasn't that bad." Kratos assessed once the scrawny six year old finished the last bit of his custard and carefully set the dish back on the main plate.

"Says you." Lloyd croaked, flopping his chin on the table in utter defeat. "You singlehandedly killed all love I ever had for food."

"Then my efforts to protect my funds were not in vain." The seraphim quipped lightly. "Sullenness aside, have you learned anything as a result of this exercise?"

"Yeah." Lloyd murmured.

"Care to enlighten me?"

"I now know why all those rich ladies go on diets. It's easier."

* * *

Ducking behind one of the buildings along the outskirts of Sybak, Mithos rested his head against the concrete and breathed in heavily. That had been way too close for comfort. Of all the times for his personal comlink to go off, it had to have been the very moment he had been engaged with leading Genis and his entourage in the right direction so his sister's vessel could be recalibrated as it were. It couldn't have been when he'd been weeding or helping that automaton do the dishes, no, of course not. Thankfully, he'd put the darn thing on vibrate, so all it had done was send him on the roof instead of alerting anyone to what was truly afoot.

'This had better be good.' The blonde half elf seethed, yanking the comlink out of his breast pocket and flicking the switch on.

"You have one new message." The voice recording played monotonously. Mithos scowled. Of course he had one new message. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have departed so abruptly, sprinted out of the library with some half baked excuse and hidden behind a building's back wall.

"First message, sent today at 3:45 pm."

"Lord Yggdrasill, I would not bother you at such an inopportune moment, but this is of the utmost importance." The breathy cadence of Pronyma simpered through the vocoder. "Protocol six hundred eighty four activated itself. According to your orders, we were to contact you directly if it was activated." Mithos' eyebrows furrowed down into his eyes. Six hundred eighty four? So, someone was tampering with the memory transfer log. How... interesting. Pressing down the redial button, the angelic leader in cognito waited while the dial tone rang through to be interrupted with a click.

"Lord Yggdrasill." The leader of the... she really couldn't be called a leader of the grand cardinals anymore now that the rest were dead as dust, Mithos pondered lightly, answered through the speaker.

"I need a status report on what specifically occurred. Details." He commanded.

"Yes sir." Pronyma replied obediently and probably saluted at the speaker. Mithos groaned. While he appreciated and commanded for protocol whenever engaging with him directly, saluting at a speaker seemed a tad overkill, given the circumstances.

"After a routine world transfer at the base of the Tower of Salvation, protocol six hundred activated. Apparently, someone attempted to reroute and erase that particular transaction, but the main computer override stopped it from erasing the log completely."

"What were the details of the transfer?" Mithos inquired.

"The transfer was completely routine, Lord Yggdrasill. One full sized humanoid and one..." Pronyma trailed off.

"Well?" The ruler of Cruxis prompted.

"One 'humanoid research model of no importance'... sir."

Mithos blinked.

"... that's what it said?"

"Yes sir. I read directly from the log."

"Was their any more information from the operator?"

"We checked, but that yielded little, unfortunately." Pronyma lamented. "The operator is of the standard angel class and only has a memory span of one hour. By the time we arrived, the memory had already been wiped away during hourly mind maintenance."

Damn... that would have been too easy. However, none of this sat well with him, not well at all. The whole endeavor sounded rather fishy from the beginning, but the more he listened to the debriefing, the more Mithos figured the name 'Lloyd' was written all over it. How he managed to pull it off, the half elf didn't know, but that brat wouldn't keep it up for long if he had anything to say about it. That spiky pain in the neck had proven more than once to be a right thorn in his side, but if Lloyd was using his computers to transfer worlds, that was a brand new sort of offense, one to add to his long standing list.

Of course... there was always the notion, as suggested by the presence of a second person, he was being assisted. It figured, it really did, Mithos grumbled under his breath. He should have known something like this would happen... again. Still, what proof could he hope to ascertain that Lloyd was in fact gaining help from an inside agent? He already had a few ideas as to who specifically it was, but until he had definite proof, blatantly accusing could send the would be perpetrator on their guard so he would then garner no answers, or at the very worst, would convince them to help Lloyd out of sheer spite. He had to go about this carefully, like herding an elephant across a tightrope over a pit of lava. One false step and they'd all be toasted.

"Pronyma, which world was the transfer embarkment?"

"Tethe'alla, sir."

"I see. Then have the main computer issue orders for patrol squads in every major city in Tethe'alla." Mithos stated, "I want him found. However, have them patrol, but not pursue after anyone actively. Lloyd needs to make himself known of his own volition and I do not want him alerted to our activities. Let him come to us. Also, do a full diagnostics check on that machine. There might still be more we've yet to recover from its databanks."

"Yes sir."

"Oh, and Pronyma... keep an eye on your little friends, if you would." Mithos grinned coldly at his communicator. "Make a play date."

"Understood." Tapping the end call button on his communicator, the seraphim stretched out his slim forearms to the sky in a stretch and yawned. Strategy and planning, while satisfying at the end of the day, were always so taxing on his system, so now all he could think of was a power nap he planned to have the moment he returned to Altessa's.

'A few hours sleep should be adequate.' He thought as he stepped into the street and made his way through the back alleys towards the exit. True, he didn't really need to nap, since he was a seraphim capable of functioning without sleep, but what could he say? Naps were just one of those guilty pleasures in which he indulged when no one was looking. Napping certainly made the time fly by faster on Derris Kharlan, so there was another perk as well.

'Besides, my naps are always productive when it comes to my work.' Mithos humorlessly smiled once he slid past the back gates of Sybak towards the fields.

Enough nightmares and terrors did lend to one's imagination, after all.

* * *

**Oof, I finally got it done.**

**Lloyd: Took you a while though.**

**Me: Don't remind me. I'd originally planned to release this the day the newest episode came out, but it wasn't done and I wasn't about to rush the process. So that plan didn't really work out. That and I was rushed the door before I got to finish.**

**Lloyd: Why?**

**Me: I was forced to embark on a long and dangerous journey against my will, riddled with monsters, booby traps and more terrifying sights that can't even be described by a mere mortal vocabulary.**

**Lloyd: ... what?**

**Me: I was dragged to the black friday sales... and now they want to go back. Help me.**

**Lloyd: Eh... you're on your own.**

**Me: Noo! I won't go! They can't make me! I wanna stay and look for episode pieces!**

***claws at floor and is dragged off to sales***

**Me: I don't wanna go back! Socks half off are not worth risking a stampede!**

**Lloyd: Please review... the author'll be back... eventually.**


	27. Broken Barriers

**Author's note: I know it's been forever and a day since I last updated, but I assure you I have a very good reason for the delay. About halfway through my chapter, my computer decided to give up the ghost and perish, along with my data and work for this chapter and others like it to come. To make things worse, the hard drive was not salvageable, so my work pretty much was lost to the circuit demons who fried my hard drive. So, I've been having to redo the entire thing, hence why's it's been so long since I've updated. Trust me, I am not a happy person to report such blunders, but according to the repair people, I had done nothing to provoke such attacks, and apparently these things happen despite any efforts against them.**

**Regardless, I was still not a happy person. However, I don't wish to continue with my rueful prose. I have more pressing matters to address.**

**Happy Second Anniversary! Woo!**

**Special thanks to Skye96, terracannon876, Link Fangirl01, chronos-girl, kuroXIII, Kisa167, Mizu Hoseki, TearyBlueMoon, KF2104, Kiomori, freakyanimegal, oursolemnhour49, LeaStar, AngelofaWhiteNight, N the puppet, I'm Sexy, Raihou and Toslover5 for reviewing and thanks to everyone who favorited, read and/or alerted to this story. I'm very thankful to all of you as always.**

**I don't own ToS or any of the characters therein. If I did, I have to put in a disclaimer, which would be nice, because I forgot to put one in initially.**

Chapter 27: Broken Barriers

With a flutter and a yawn, a pair of eyes opened blearily and struggled to refocus. It wasn't that they couldn't refocus, but rather they didn't want to do so. Sleep had been so inviting and leaving so soon just seemed rude. She didn't want be rude.

... maybe just a few more minutes...

The pair of deep blue eyes opened again. Wait a minute. She hadn't been dozing last thing she remembered. Last she recall, there was something to do with running and falling and being wet. As she struggled to get sense of herself, she realized she was neither running, nor falling and she certainly wasn't wet.

Colette yawned into the cushion beneath her head and flopped her face into the velvet tufts. It was too early to think straight. Or maybe too late. She wasn't sure of that either. What she was sure of, however, was she was tired and whatever she was lying on was like a cloud made out of feathers.

Still, try as she might to fall back to sleep, a nagging sound in the corner of her head simple refused to return to dreamland without at least getting some bearings on the situation at hand. Sighing, the chosen cherubim sat up and rubbed at her sleep riddled eyes. Everything, including most of her immediate memory was a haze, so when her senses did recalibrate, what met her eyes was shocking.

She was sitting in a bedroom. However, it wasn't any bedroom she'd seen before. The walls were cream with white trim, the furniture was sparse, yet immaculately kept and she was sitting square in the middle of a full sized bed with a light pink bedspread. Colette ran a hand over the spread and smiled. Satin, very tasteful. She stretched for good measure to uncoil her spine from the entanglements of deep sleep and caught a glimpse of a hand held mirror on the side table nearest her mattress. Cocking her head at an angle, Colette grasped the ivory carved handle of the mirror, peered down into it and groaned.

She looked like a bushel of hay with a face.

After she'd tamed her bird's nest of hair as best she could with her picayune fingers, Colette set the mirror back on the table and noticed the second offering waiting patiently for her.

"Ooh, milk and a sandwich." The acute acolyte quickly retrieved the tray with the snack and set it down on her lap. Whoever had provided this room for her had also provided lunch. Or was it breakfast? Either way, it was very thoughtful.

"Mm, apricot jam." Colette bit into the corner of the sandwich and practically melted when the taste of apricots filled her senses. She hadn't any idea how famished she was until that instant, but moments after tasting it, the sandwich was merely a memory.

Setting the tray back on the table, Colette wiped the crumbs off the front of her newly gained satin pink pajamas, stuck her feet over the side of the mammoth bed and hopped down. She wouldn't get an answers if she stayed in one spot. At the far end of the room, she spotted an equally mountainous door with flashing lights laced all about the edges. That would be a good first start.

The door was a lot bigger than she'd expected. The top of her head barely made it to the halfway mark of the door and to make matters worse, there wasn't any sort of handle she could locate.

Fortune swung in her favor, however, for the door slid to the side, revealing another room. Beaming at her luck, Colette stood at the doorway and poked her head through.

"Hello?" She called. "Anybody here?"

"I see you've rejoined the living."

Sitting at his desk, still swamped in paperwork and piles of other detritus, sat Yuan. He put the pen down at the sight of her and gave his small rendition of a smile.

"Yuan." Colette let out a breath of relief and trotted over to his desk. "What happened? What am I doing here?" If she had to see anyone in unforeseen circumstances besides her friends, Yuan was the next best choice. For a brief moment, she'd entertained the notion of being trapped inside the inner workings of Cruxis, which had almost been enough to destroy her appetite for apricot jam.

"You overexerted yourself chasing after me in a wild flurry and as a result drained what energy you possessed." The blue haired commander explained, gesturing for her to sit in a neighboring armchair. "You can't be doing that, especially not in your current condition." Colette smiled at him, but didn't sit. She'd been stationary enough for one day or however long she had been absent from the plane of consciousness.

"Oh." She murmured, remembering the incident with the puddle. "Er..."

"However, I must thank you for returning my ring." Yuan continued and displayed the ring on his left hand. "I was very pleased to have it back in my possession."

Colette positively glowed. At least her exhaustive efforts to return his ring paid off.

"You're welcome." She chirped. "And would I be right if I guessed we were back at the renegade base?"

"You would. The Flanoir one to be precise."

"Oh. Good, I like that one best." The cherub looked around the corners of the room just in case her friends were going to materialize out of the woodwork. "Are my friends here too?"

"No, they are procuring the items required for your recovery. You, on the other hand, are going to rest here and not stress yourself with unnecessary adventuring." He pointed a finger at her. "It wouldn't do to have you pass out again."

Chin to her chest, Colette shuffled her bare feet against the carpet. She knew Yuan was right and she couldn't go galavanting across the countryside in what could be a mere flight of fancy, but she didn't like the idea of being cooped up for how long it took the others to find a treatment either. Yuan looked strangely uncomfortable too, because he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"Did you drink the glass of opaque liquid next to your bedside?"

"Yeah, I thought it was milk." She nodded, thinking back. "Why, was I not supposed to?"

"No, it was intended for that purpose. What you ingested is a medicinal concoction that will halt your infection from spreading to the other regions of your body. It won't cure the disease by any means, but at the least the condition will not become worse."

"Oh, okay." No wonder that milk tasted a little funny. "Why'd it look like milk?"

"I... I mixed it with milk so it would be more appetizing. Judging from the crumbs on your cheeks, I also can assume you ate the sandwich as well."

Colette inclined her head again.

"Yes, I did. What was the sandwich for?"

"To curb peckishness." Yuan replied, stapling a pair of papers together. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to make sure you're not still running a fever. You were burning up when we arrived." The seraphim turncoat removed himself from his chair, approached where Colette stood some ways away, bent down on one knee and placed a hand over her forehead.

"Temperature seems normal." He diagnosed, moving from her forehead to her neck. "No swollen lymphnodes or glands. You're not sweating or freezing, so that's a good sign. I think you should be adequate as long as you refrain from strenuous activity and don't push yourself. Overall how do you feel?"

"Cold." Colette responded.

"Cold?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Your hands. They're cold."

"Oh." Yuan let his hands drop. "Better?"

"Yeah. I feel a bit groggy but other than that, I'm fine." The cherub yawned into her sleeve, but managed to smile anyway. "By the way, thank you for the pajamas and everything and..."

Her eyes fell on the desk behind him.

"Um... Yuan?"

"Yes?" He inquired, resuming his seat at his workstation.

"Why are there cloth, thread and felt all out on your desktop?" Colette stood on pointed toes and poked at the array of what could only be described as a costume shop's leavings splayed out on half of Yuan's desk.

"Ah, you noticed." The cerulean haired half elf coughed into his hand and let his fingers waft through his long fringe. "I... I distinctly remember that before we were interrupted during your last stay, you mentioned you did not have a Goddess Martel puppet for your collection because you didn't know what she looked like."

"Uh huh."

"I thought maybe... if you were feeling better... you would wish to make one.. to take your mind off things." He spared a sideways glance at a potted plant. "And if you needed assistance... I could provide some. That is... if you still want to-"

"Oh, I'd love to!" Colette glowed, cheeks rosy and jubilant. "That sounds like so much fun! You're so nice, Yuan!" Without warning, or for that matter an invitation, she dashed around the desk, wriggled her way into the small space between Yuan and the chair arm, and peered over the top of the desk with expectant eyes.

"Okay, where do we start first?"

Yuan watched her for a moment, strangely unsure, but in the end smiled a tad and picked up a piece of cloth.

"... well... Martel was very pale and slender, so using the pale pink felt might be a good place to begin."

* * *

"So I cut the game hen here?" Lloyd loomed over the unsuspecting foodstuff in front of his nose whilst holding a knife against the breastbone.

"Yes." Kratos glanced over the rim of his book, reading glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. "Just make sure to make the incision at a slant so as not to cut into the bone." Nodding sharply, Lloyd carefully sliced into the meat of the hen and worked his way down until the breast meat was free. As soon as the meat dropped from the bird, the paltry boy assiduously plucked the slice from the wound site and set it to the side on a pile of already carved chicken flesh. From overtop his book's edge, the seraphim watched his charge appraisingly while the boy worked and smiled. While it had only been a mere ten days since he'd begun teaching Lloyd the finer points of conduct, Kratos couldn't help but be pleased with the boy's progress. For someone who held the reputation of being quite a poor student, Lloyd had shattered his expectations for mastering the rules of etiquette and, given the severity of his expectations, that was certainly saying something.

'He is quite astute at learning once he applies himself.' The elder angel mused, his somewhat satisfied smirk hidden by his book. 'Perhaps if he had not been bored in school, he might have outshone everyone else.' That much was unbelievably clear. In his lessons, Lloyd had proven to be quite engaging, provided he was interested in the subject. Why his other teachers had failed to see that, Kratos wasn't sure, but their folly was his gain he supposed. The more time he spent with Lloyd, the better his chances of rekindling a deep bond with him and as far as he was concerned, he wasn't about to question a stroke of decent luck.

'He's already mastered posture, pronunciation, conversation and introduction, and amazingly enough, dining etiquette.' Kratos counted off silently while Lloyd removed a thigh from his lunch. 'I will admit that last lesson took longer than I wish it would have, but in the end, he's done incredibly, especially for someone who had no prior intensive training.'

From across the table, Lloyd gently set his knife on the far edge of the plate, inspected the barren half of the hen he dismembered and stared intently at Kratos' forehead.

"Okay, I'm done." He reported with a hopeful grin. "How'd I do?" The seraphim set down his book on the side table, readjusted his glasses on his nose and examined the carcass Lloyd eased across the table.

"It looks precise, but remember you are cutting a chicken, not performing an autopsy." Kratos advised, pushing the plate back towards Lloyd and picking up his book again.

"Autopsy? What's that?" Lloyd asked, taking the plate and rearranging the cutlery about its' edges. Kratos seriously fought the urge to sigh and set down his book once again.

"An autopsy is when a medical examiner slices into a dead body in order to discover cause of death, be it natural or heinous in nature." He explained. Lloyd eyed the chicken and poked at it with his fork.

"Okay... but isn't a cooked chicken just technically a dead chicken body?" The russet eyed boy dug at the chicken with his fork again. Kratos paused reaching for his book.

"I suppose, but-"

"I get it. I'm the chicken examiner." Lloyd's eyebrows furrowed and sank his eyes until he was level with his lunch. "This chicken's cause of death is..." After a moment of intense quietude, Lloyd sat bolt upright and folded his arms across his chest.

"No head."

"Lloyd, just eat your lunch." The seraphim halfheartedly admonished, picking up his book with the hand that wasn't holding his forehead. Grinning broadly, Lloyd plucked his other utensil from the plate and honed in on the pile of loose chicken pieces like a vulture.

"And now I will get rid of the evidence." The scrawny six year old declared and immediately tucked into his meal. Kratos rolled his eyes. For someone who claimed to be down to earth, Lloyd certainly had a way of bringing out the drama in what would have normally been an average occurrence. Sighing, he attempted to rekindle his interest in his book, but strangely found himself unable. Apparently, the image of a mortician stripping off feathers from a bird carcass and sticking them in an evidence sack made garnering any enjoyment of his book nye impossible.

'I'm not going to be able to finish my book any time soon because of you, am I?' The seraphim snorted unhappily, but since it was obvious he'd be fighting a losing battle if he tried reading again, Kratos set down his book and proceeded to watch Lloyd dive, albeit politely, into his food.

"...You always seem to turn mealtime into an adventure, regardless of whether or not you use proper manners, don't you?" Kratos commented offhandedly, his chin propped in his palm. Sitting up straight like a pencil had been jammed into his spine, Lloyd looked wholeheartedly affronted.

"Hey, I'm doing it right, aren't I?" Lloyd gestured up and down himself, thoroughly ruffled. "Look, good manners and all." If he'd been anyone else, Kratos would have turned pink. Truth be told, the seraph hadn't actually meant to voice his opinion aloud, but the sentence had been out before he'd managed to stop himself. He hadn't done that in years, just saying whatever came to mind. He'd always been the pinnacle of discretion. It wasn't in his nature to randomly comment on what he saw. Mind, he'd think it, but not generally voice it out loud.

Perhaps the new company he'd been keeping as of late was having more of an effect on him than he'd previously thought.

"You may have improved, but one mustn't look at their food as if undergoing an embalming." Kratos countered seamlessly. Lloyd didn't seem too convinced that Kratos was correct about his eating, but if he held any other reservations, he didn't voice them. Instead, the thin boy resumed cutting one of the remaining pieces of chicken quietly. Pleased at the sudden tranquility, Kratos spared his book a sideways glance. Maybe he'd be able to read it now with no distractions-

"Hey, how come they have mini chickens, but not maxi chickens?"

Maybe not.

"... maxi chickens." The seraphim sword master repeated. "That's completely absurd."

"No it's not! Just think of big chickens, huge ones, like the size of Noishe." Lloyd stretched out his arms as wide as they would go and emphatically waved them. "They'd be so big, you could use them to power stuff or ride on and have a snack whenever you got hungry. That'd solve hunger in Sylvarant and mana shortages in Tethe'alla." The scrawny swordsman smiled and focused on his chicken, his eyes brimming with energy that Kratos figured was being poured into imagining a monstrous piece of poultry.

"There's no downside." He crowed. Kratos raised one eyebrow.

"What if the chicken decided to attack you first before you could eat it?" The seraphim interjected calmly. Pausing his assault of his food, Lloyd thought a moment, frowned and poked at one of the remaining roasted potatoes.

"Alright, that's one downside, but still." He relented. "If people devoted more of their time trying to find ways to help each other instead of fighting, I think we'd all be a whole lot better off. I mean, if people weren't fighting in the first place, Cruxis wouldn't even exist, right? Why don't people just figure out how to make food for everyone or medicine instead of ways to kill each other?" Forehead furrowed, the scrawny six year old resumed eating, stabbing his chicken occasionally when he thought Kratos wasn't looking. Despite his efforts to conceal his sudden irritation with people's lack of foresight, Kratos had already glanced off to the side, his mind in mental turmoil.

While Lloyd's idea had been farfetched to say the least, not to mention probably impossible, the sentiment people should be more altruistic than warmongering still held firm. His interpretation of the facts were not as crystal clear as they should've been, given his information for the most part had been hearsay, scattered hints and the occasional third account, but all and all, he meant well.

'Time for another impromptu lesson, I guess.' Kratos supposed and shifted his gaze towards Lloyd once more.

"Lloyd, the reason Cruxis came to be was due to the fighting between two separate factions, that is true. However that is merely skimming the surface. Originally, the idea behind Cruxis was to put an end to the fighting and bring discrimination on any level to an end." He began, but a snort from Lloyd cut him off.

"Uh, huh." Lloyd rolled his russet eyes in disbelief and picked up his water glass. "And you expect me to think that the organization that controls one of the biggest armies of terrors ever inflicted on the worlds was initially created for peace? I'm having a hard time swallowing that pill." The seraph desperately wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose, but held himself back. This was going to be much harder than he previously anticipated.

"You'd be amazed how the flow of time affects the reality of the situation." Kratos replied coolly. "While having long since departed from its designs in infancy, Cruxis was created as an organization designed to protect the rights of the individual and create a world in which no one had to live in fear of their own lives solely because of matters outside their control, like race or background or even birth."

"In a sense, Cruxis' original intentions and your own are very similar."

Lloyd choked on his water.

"Wh-what?" He gasped and coughed. "You can't be serious."

"Am I ever not?" The seraphim swordsman retorted. "The creators of Cruxis wanted to stop the bloodshed on all levels and promote unity, thus destroying discrimination forever. It's application has been... less than exemplary, but the intention was still the same."

"But you can't get rid of discrimination." Lloyd frowned. "All you can do is try to show its wrong and teach people to not discriminate. You can't kill it like it's a virus. Some people can't handle others that aren't like them, so instead they shut them out and create discrimination." Glaring at the table, the shrimpy swordsman folded his arms against his chest and snorted.

"If anything, discrimination is a weakness of the heart. That can't be fixed as easily, if at all for some people."

Kratos sighed and closed his eyes. After all his time as a leading member of Cruxis, he'd realized that discrimination wouldn't go away just with a religion and teachings from a dead woman, which spread reincarnated discrimination, and his folly in assisting its spread. However, if a boy whose real age hadn't spanned two decades managed to see what he hadn't after four eons, how far and how long had he turned his eye away from Yggdrasill's insanity?

'One more thing to add to the list of things I will face on judgment day.' He mused and shook his head. He wouldn't get very far dwelling on his list of atrocities he'd committed in the name of Cruxis if he was going to be of any help to Lloyd right then and right then, he had to continue before the boy lost the point he was trying to make.

"At this point, that is most obvious to those willing to see, but you have to realize, the founding intentions of Cruxis were, for the most part, pure." Kratos continued. "The original founders never intended for things to turn out the way they did, but you must remember, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I suppose there will never be a finer example."

"If what you're saying's true, then why'd it end up so screwed up?" Lloyd asked curiously, his food long forgotten. "I mean, if you.. they... er... Cruxis wanted to stop the fighting and bring about peace, how did the whole turn around thing happen? The Desians are the ones spreading the chaos in Sylvarant and they report to Cruxis, so in a way, that's Cruxis out there terrorizing people and making others hate half elves because Desians are half elves. That's just making things way worse than they were before. It's kinda weird they would decide to start the fighting if originally Cruxis wanted to stop it. Sounds kinda hypocritical." Somewhere in the pit of his stomach, Kratos felt his insides curdle. He knew this part would come up at some time, but that didn't mean he was any happier about having to relive the turning point between his idealistic apprentice and the madman who took his place.

"After one of the original founders was brutally murdered in cold blood, the dying wishes conveyed to end discrimination and fighting were perverted and distorted by the remaining members." Kratos responded, choosing his words with extreme care. "As a result, grief combined with madness and vengeance and sent Cruxis careening into what it is today, a bastion of lost ideals and despair, coupled with strained relationships held together by memories of better days and a future that was."

"So it's the other founders' fault then that it went to pot?" Lloyd questioned. "One of them died and that left the rest to screw everything up?"

Kratos inwardly cringed.

"In a sense. One in particular was the driving force behind Cruxis' development, but to say the others had no hand in it would be an outright lie." He replied. "They negated their responsibility to keep order and thus allowed everything to spiral out of control because of their negligence."

Lloyd stayed rather quiet, absorbing the information laid out in front of him like a well maintained sponge.

"...would Yggdrasill by chance be the founder who went crazy and made Cruxis into what it is that you were talking about?" He finally inquired, as though he was testing the waters like one would on a brisk day in April. The elder of the two nodded in an approving fashion and allowed himself a slight smile.

"You're becoming rather astute." Kratos commented approvingly. "Yes, you would be correct."

Lloyd sat back, looking smug, but his grin quickly melted from his face in a wash of revelation.

"Wait... if it was just one of the founders, why didn't anyone stop him?" The spritely six year old pointed out. "You said 'founders', so why didn't the others stop him?"

Kratos' features instantly darkened and he foisted his deathly stare upon a dresser nearby so as not to inadvertently give Lloyd a fear induced heart attack.

"... mostly stupidity, misplaced loyalty and not seeing the truth for what it actually was." He growled. "Not before it was too late, anyway."

"... oh." Lloyd blinked. "That's... kinda harsh. Was that really how it happened?" The antiquated angel glanced back at the boy across from him, felt his features soften and let his chin rest on the crux of his thumb and forefinger.

"Yes. Lloyd, I've found you either die fighting for what you believe in... or you end up becoming the very thing that you were fighting against in the first place." Kratos sighed heavily. "What's worse is when more harm than good is done and the realization hits that destruction is much more of a forte' than salvation ever was."

Lloyd gawked at the elder seraph with a frown so deep set, Kratos could actually feel his disapproval pouring of his scrawny shoulders in waves.

"That's a pretty awful way of thinking."

"That doesn't make it any less true." The seraphim deflected and looked out the window. "Just make sure you keep that in mind, lest you suffer a similar fate."

The fervent first grader turned an unsightly shade of green at the thought of ending up like Yggdrasill, but quickly shook it off and continued to eye Kratos with a lengthy weight of scrutiny.

"I don't think everything is so set in stone that people can't change." Lloyd stated firmly, his petite hand balled into a fist. "Someone might not be able to restart with a new beginning, but they can always start over now and have a whole new ending." The pair of them locked irises and stared at one another for a good few minutes, each watching the other with intense focus. While Lloyd was chock full of idealism, Kratos wasn't quite sure the boy had absorbed just what he'd meant when he'd told Lloyd not to make a mistake. However, the boy had changed his 'do it over' approach to a venue that had some merit of rationality, which was a nice step. But to be completely honest, while Kratos could see parallels between what he was trying to accomplish and Lloyd's own ideas, he wasn't sure if any other changes he could possibly make would change his own fate in the end. Of course Lloyd would have a chance to right the world that Kratos had a hand in distorting, but as far as the seraph figured, his own fate was outright sealed.

"Wait a minute, Cruxis was founded a really long time ago." Lloyd broke off the train of thought streaming through Kratos' mind. "Exactly how old IS Yggdrasill?" The seraphim snorted in a mildly amused fashion and stood.

"That's a story for another time." Kratos replied, tucking his book into his pocket. "Are you done massacring your chicken?"

"Yeah, I guess. " The scrawny six year old plucked his napkin from his lap and folded it. "What are we doing again?" Ah, progress at last. Kratos, grateful for the topic shift, began making preparations for their impending departure.

"Today we are paying a visit to the Castle." He explained while reaching for Lloyd's coat.

"The castle? What for?" Lloyd hopped down from his chair and pushed it into its proper place. Kratos briefly appraised the cherubim to be and held out his coat. The seraph figured Lloyd had only been within the quarters of the castle a short while and he also supposed it was only natural Lloyd, having technically been a civilian, hadn't spent a whole lot of time meandering down the corridors of a royal abode. He smirked. If he was going to be trailing after Kratos, Lloyd would soon learn just about everything there was to know about such places.

"I need to retrieve something within the castle's walls." He offered Lloyd's coat again with a jerk of his wrist. Lloyd sniffed, took the coat from Kratos' outstretched hand and haphazardly stuck his head through the bottom.

"What is it exactly?" The slight swordsman asked while he poked one arm through one armhole and the other through its twin. After both arms were through, Lloyd tried pulling his head through the top, but found himself unable to do more than lodge the collar around his temples. Two attempts later, all Lloyd had managed to do was make it so he couldn't pull his head through, nor could he retract it.

With both arms in an upwards 'V', his unruly spikes of hair poking through the collar and Lloyd flailing around in an attempt to dislodge at least one of the aforementioned constricted limbs, Kratos couldn't classify him looking anything other than ridiculous.

"Do you need assistance?" The angelic swordsman asked while Lloyd struggled within the coat.

"... maybe a little." Lloyd's muffled voice grunted. "I can't.. quite.. get it." Sighing, Kratos unfastened the button that Lloyd had missed, resulting in his coat swallowing him like a python, and pulled it down over Lloyd's head.

"You forgot to unbutton the collar first. Hold still." The seraphim instructed. Cheeks pink with embarrassment on missing the large collar button, Lloyd swallowed his pride and allowed Kratos to fasten it back again. However, from what he could see, Lloyd was having a hard time swallowing it.

"And as for what I am searching for, you'll see once we arrive." Kratos added once the button slid into place. Lloyd tugged at his collar twice, but nonetheless nodded and reached for his swords that he'd propped against the door.

"Just curious, how are you gonna get in there?" Lloyd asked while he hooked the belts around his hips and swayed back and forth to make sure they wouldn't fall off. "Isn't the security really tight?"

"For most people yes." The seraph responded, having already gone to the door and opened it. "However, I am not most people. I have a special clearance that allows me access to all the halls of the Castle should I wish to visit them." Lloyd wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"Is it a Cruxis thing?" He inquired as he trotted out the door into the hall. Kratos thought about it as he closed the door behind himself and made his way down the stairs of the inn, Lloyd hot on his heels.

"Not really." The seraphim responded, stepping out into the air of a brisk Meltokio afternoon.

"Can I have a hint?" Lloyd prodded.

"You'll see when we get there."

"Humph." The smaller of the two foisted his hands into his pockets and sighed derisively. "I hate waiting." Kratos spared his charge a sideways glance and shook his head.

"Then walk faster."

* * *

"Urgh, I am never going to get used to this sewer." Sheena pinched her nose shut as they all neared the stairs leading up to the city. "It reeks of vomit and outhouses."

"What do you think's down here, honey and biscuits?" Zelos asked sardonically, he too holding his nose. "That's what a sewer's for. Collecting that stuff."

"Don't remind me." The raven haired puffball groaned and tried not to look at a rat floating down the aqueduct pipe like it was doing the backstroke. Because the 'Chosen traitor against the crown' had yet to be apprehended, the security guards blocking the gate to Meltokio were still on the job, and wouldn't let anyone pass without going through the checkpoint, which put a serious damper on the hopes of the traveling band of mismatched kids. Without documentation or a chaperone to vouch for them, the bratty-town players had been forced to trek their way all the way through the sewer system once again. Still, all in all it was probably better they went the way of the sewers. Should any of the troops patrolling the gates have noticed Zelos' uncanny likeness to the Chosen, albeit a miniature copy, they'd have been hauled in to see the Pope on suspicions of harboring a criminal or at least, copying his hairstyle. Sheena snorted and fluffed her bangs out of her face. It was a long shot to be sure that would have happened and chances were good Raine was just being neurotic, but they couldn't risk any sort of exposure, no matter how farfetched. One mistake and they'd be set on like a bag of bunnies in the center of a pack of starving dogs.

So, sewers it was.

Of course, the trip through wasn't being nearly as painless as it should've been because Zelos hadn't stopped reminding them of the numerous diseases roaming rampant in said sewers and how they were pretty much unprotected in this underground bordello of plague.

"Anyway, don't forget about diphtheria, that disease that causes your skin to turn blue and you get lesions on your body." Zelos commented in a nasally voice, still holding his nose. "I bet it's just waiting down here for us, lurking in the shadows, just waiting to pounce-"

"Zelos, diphtheria is a very rare disease, not to mention one that's practically eradicated in Tethe'alla. Sylvarant hasn't even had a case for two hundred years." Raine interrupted, her voice taut and terse.

"Yeah, would you relax already? You're making me edgy." Genis groused up in agreement. Zelos snorted.

"You're edgy because you didn't eat anything." He retorted. "That's what you get for not eating when food was available."

"I just wasn't hungry, don't change the subject." The pernicious preschooler piped. "You're being stupid. We're fine in here and we've walked in here tons of times. We're not gonna get anything, you hypochondriac!"

"But I'm walking around in Lloyd's old hand-me-downs. I have no protection." Zelos moaned. "That's like trying to deal with radiation fallout with a moist towelette!"

"Zelos, would you drop it!" Sheena snarled and whacked him in the side of the arm. "We get you're unhappy, we really do, but complaining all the time for no stupid reason is only going to make us want to dump you in the sewer water and watch you squirm!"

From the expression on Zelos' face, he was anything but deterred by the threat of propulsion into suspect waters.

"But what about the avian epizootic?"

"That's a bird disease, you idiot!"

"But I don't wanna be a bird!"

"Zelos, you'll just have to endure, for your sake if not for ours." Regal interjected calmly, stepping between the Chosen on thin ice and the ninja who looked ready to stomp a crack through it. "Besides, these are necessary evils, I'm afraid. Even though we're still children, it's not worth the risk to approach the gates outright."

Zelos looked less than convinced.

"Yeah, sure. Like they'd recognize us, anyway." The scarlet haired acolyte snorted incredulously.

"You'd be amazed." Raine offhandedly replied. "Regardless of that, from what I could tell, it looked like those guards weren't letting anyone in."

"You think they're looking for someone?" Genis asked.

"Besides us? Who knows?" Sheena shrugged. "It's probably something about tightened security because of something or another. Anyway, no one in, no one out. Just be grateful we're the only ones who know about this passage."

"Someone's up ahead." Presea droned, pointing off into the sewer's dank, musty cavern. "And they're coming this way."

"Great." The tiny summoner ran a hand underneath her raven bangs. "So much for being grateful. Everyone into the shadows." Not wasting time, the band of red clad kids ducked into the nearby alcoves and clung to the walls while the sounds of clunking footsteps echoed through the catacombs. Sheena's knuckles grew white as the steps grew closer and closer, and it was all anyone could do to not let out a gasp when the owner of the footsteps stepped into one of the few beams of light that illuminated the sewer.

'Vharley.' Regal mouthed in shock. Vharley the exsphere broker, vile and portly as ever, sauntered with his self important swagger around the pathway to the stairwell leading to the city above, completely unaware of his spectators. He appeared more smug than usual, and had in his left hand a bag of sorts. As the repugnant broker passed by their hiding place in the alcove, Presea made to step forward, but a hand held her back. Her gaze angrily shot to the owner of the hand and she tried to shake it off, but the hand held firm.

'Not yet.' Regal shook his head. 'Wait for the right moment.' Presea, who for the most part still didn't show emotion, glared at him, but relented and stepped back into the shadows. Still, the grip on her axe didn't relax one millimeter.

"You're late." A voice that didn't belong to Vharley suddenly barked, causing all six squirts to jump out of their skin. At the bottom of the stairs stood a guard of a royal rank with his arms folded and his posture radiating impatience.

"The King isn't going anywhere, and neither is the Pope." Vharley scoffed back to the guard. "I brought this month's supply of poison. If you want it, I'll need to see my money first." The guard snorted disdainfully, but pulled out a large pouch of gald and approached Vharley.

"There's your payment." He gruffed, dropping the bag into Vharley's grubby mitts. "How long until the King is dead?"

"Give it a month or so and he should be long gone." The brash broker tucked the pouch underneath his belt and patted it for good measure. "Tell the Pope that he'll get his soon enough. It's gotta look natural."

"That rat bastard! He's poisoning the king?" Zelos hissed under his breath. 'No wonder the normally healthy king got so sick all of a sudden.'

"We cannot allow him to escape." Presea murmured, her axe aloft and at the ready. After a few more minutes of wheeling and dealing, the guard left Vharley to counting his money, a spare few laughs rumbling in his throat. Barely making a sound, the sextet emerged from their hiding space and maneuvered around the catwalk to where he stood.

"One piece, two piece, three piece." Vharley numbered off gleefully. "It's not nearly as much as I'd been hoping, but for what it's worth, it's not bad by any means-"

"Greedy to the last. I can't say I'm pleased you'd stoop so low as to poison a completely innocent man, but neither can I say I'm surprised. There is nothing you won't do for money, is there?"

In a panicked jolt, the lard bucket of a man stuffed the gald into his pouch and wheeled around towards where the voice had come. He brandished a dull looking knife wildly, but stopped flat when he came face to face with the blue haired eleven year old behind him.

"Who the hell are you?" Vharley demanded gruffly, the knife still aloft. "Some kinda gutter rat?"

"You don't recognize me?" Regal folded his arms across his chest and looked down his nose. "How unfortunate. Still, I can assure you the only gutter rat here is you." Confused, Vharley lowered the knife just enough to let the light break through and took a step back in abhorrence.

"You... you look just like that murderer." He stupidly stammered. "But you can't be..."

"Amazing likeness, isn't it?" The preteen president replied coolly. "I may have been altered in appearance, but I assure you, nothing else has changed."

"You will not escape this time, Vharley." Presea added, stepping out from behind Regal and brandishing her axe. "It is time you answered for the atrocities you've committed." Vharley took a step back towards the stairs, but found himself cut off by Zelos, who'd managed to maneuver around him when Regal offered a distraction.

"Nowhere to go." The cherub of a chosen loftily lilted. "You're surrounded." Vharley backed up again and looked from left to right, but to no avail. He was surrounded no matter which way he chose.

"No, this isn't happening-" He began to shout, but the blade of an axe embedded into the squishy flesh of his abdomen and sent him reeling backward. Barely missing a second, Regal sidestepped so he was behind Vharley and nailed him with a kick to the back that sent him sprawling to the sludgy floor of the sewers, thoroughly paralyzed.

"I'm going to die here... just like that pathetic Alicia?" Vharley grunted into the stone, unable to move an inch as his blood soaked into the tiles grouting.

Presea's normally porcelain pallor glowed puce. Weapon long forgotten, the axe wielder raised up a knee and aimed the heel of her patent leather mary jane directly at Vharley's prone temple. Barely able to move after the debilitating blow, the vile broker turned his face just enough to see the heel aimed at his head and his eyes grew wide.

Throughout the sewers there echoed a blood curdling scream, a bone crushing crunch and then... nothing.

"Rest in pieces." Presea growled, kicked what was left of Vharley's body and stomped up the stairs, her petite bloodstained shoe squelching with every odd step. Regal surveyed the fresh corpse a moment, sniffed scornfully at it and followed her towards the ladder that led up into the city, leaving the other four behind in the sewer turned tomb.

"For wont of a better word... ew." The Professor cringed in disgust at Vharley's mutilated body.

"What a mess." Sheena grimaced, her face an unsightly shade of green. "Urgh, I've seen bloody killings, but that's just... gross." Biting back a shudder, Genis craned his neck over to catch a glimpse of the corpse and quickly retracted his neck.

"So... what do we do now?" He asked, "Do we just leave it or..." Both summoner and scholar shared a wayward glance and looked to the fourth remaining member, who was being, for the most part, uncharacteristically silent. Noticing their poignant stare, Zelos swiveled his eyes back to the body and shook his head.

"Don't look at me, I'm not cleaning that up."

* * *

Lloyd trotted three steps behind Kratos, mind reeling and pulse doing the same. While he was intrigued about the mystery trip Kratos had set in motion, he couldn't help but be the slightest bit anxious.

'What's he up to?' Lloyd frowned at a stray stone he passed. 'I know he's got a plan in mind, he said enough himself, but I'm not liking not knowing where we're doing. It's got me just itching with fidgets.' True enough he'd be already afflicted with the jitters by the time they passed the second landing, but the further along they went, the stronger the jitters became. It wasn't entirely out of Kratos' nature to reveal little to nothing about his plans, if not just downright typical, but that didn't quash Lloyd's interest.

'We're going to the castle, he said that much, but what for?' He sniffed and picked at some stray lint on his shirt. 'I know he's probably got all sorts of clearance, thanks to Cruxis, but what on either world would he need from the castle? I was in there once and didn't see anything even remotely helpful. Just a bunch of fuss and foof, nothing else.'

'Maybe I overlooked something. I wouldn't be surprised if I did. Perhaps it's something we need to retrieve, like an orb or maybe a really powerful sword. Still, I think that sword he's already got looks powerful enough. I mean, just look at it.' Lloyd spared the sword at Kratos' hip a sideways glance. 'It's on fire. Who needs a better sword when the one they already have is on fire. A sword... that's on fire. You can't beat that-'

"Lloyd."

'But... if it's on fire, how come it doesn't set him on fire? I don't think that's an illusion, 'cause I can feel the heat from here, but if it really is churning out flames, how can he wear it without getting burned? From where I stand, it looks pretty hot, so how he's not getting cooked I can't figure.'

"Lloyd."

'I wonder if it has something to do with the clothes he wears. I heard the Professor saying there was a way to make clothes so they were fireproof, but those chemicals cost a fortune to get, let alone make, according to her. Plus they make the clothes smell like sheep for a week 'til they air out and no one wants to smell like sheep-'

"Lloyd!"

"-Huh?" Lloyd blinked dazedly and looked at the astringent angel casting agitation his way.

"We've arrived." Kratos flicked his wrist at the building in front of them and returned it to the hilt of his sword. "And why are you staring at my sword?"

"Uh... well... I was just lookin'. I'm allowed to look." The spritely six year old sheepishly rebuked. "Or am I not allowed to look at something eye level?" The elder seraph sent him a withering stare.

"I suppose I don't have any objections." Kratos replied, but from the expression on his face, oh yes he did.

"Fantastic. So, are you going to tell me now why we're here?"

"We are here for two reasons." The auburn haired seraphim held up his first two fingers in a 'V'. "One, I need to retrieve a book."

"Okay, and the second reason?" Lloyd coaxed.

"You need to take your first test."

Lloyd turned pale as a ghost.

"Test?" He squeaked. Out of everything he'd imagined, a test so early had never once crossed his mind. However, now that it was impending, he was shocked he hadn't seen it coming.

"Yes." Kratos confirmed. "Prove you can blend in while in the Castle. If you pass, you will move on to the next stage."

Lloyd's stomach dropped to his knees.

"And if I don't?"

"We go back to the book balancing."

".. ah." The lilliputian boy murmured in more of a groan than a reply. Rolling his eyes, the elder of the two swordsmen glanced back to the castle's front entrance and tightened his grip on his sword.

"Remember what I taught you and if you feel you've gotten lost, follow my lead." Kratos instructed. "You should be fine if you falter."

"What if I get lost and you're not there?" Lloyd asked.

"If you do not know what to do, just wing it. When in doubt, follow the people around you. As long as you keep an air of confidence and a cool head, no one will know your indecision or discomfort and thus expose you as inexperienced. That goes for any situation you may find yourself facing. It always pays to be prepared, but occasionally things may not go as planned. At that instance, improvisation is key. Or, you could just not get lost, of course."

"Of course." The brown haired brat rolled his own russet eyes emphatically. "So, success is sometimes faking your way through something and hoping no one catches on?"

"Yes."

Lloyd scrunched up his nose in consternation.

"Does that really work?"

"It's worked for me." Kratos did his version of a halfhearted shrug. "And I've been around a while. Now, focus on the task at hand. Remember what I said, and when in doubt-"

"-Keep my peace and let you do the talking. I got it." Lloyd finished, but despite his impatient tone, gripped onto the swords at his hips and held onto them like his life depended on it. Even though they were only inanimate objects, he felt a waterfall of security wash over him the instant his hands gripped onto the handles, like nothing could touch him or even come close enough to attempt to do so.

Huh. Maybe that was why Kratos always kept a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Do you have any other questions?"

Speaking of which...

"Yeah, I've got one." Lloyd raised his hand high up in the air. "Your sword, that thing's on fire, right?" Kratos raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the hilt of his sword.

"Yes." He confirmed.

"Real fire?"

"Yes."

"Has it ever set _you_ on fire?"

"... what?"

"Has it ever set you on fire?" Lloyd repeated. "It's right near your hip, so I was just wondering if you ever got burned because it was so close?"

Kratos stared at him in stoic vexation.

"Lloyd, is that why you were gaping at my sword while we were walking here?"

"Yeah." Lloyd nodded.

Letting out what sounded like a groan of perturbation, the seraphim shook his head exasperatedly and pivoted so he faced the grandiose hall doors.

"... once. Let's go."

* * *

"That is so much better!" Zelos burst through the front doors of his manor in a brand new and thoroughly sludge free replica of his original gear. "I feel like a new man!"

"Unfortunately for the rest of us, you're the same as always. Pervy and loud." Sheena groused in his wake, her slimy red shirt replaced with a purple wrap shirt and black calf pants. The ruby headed chosen shot her a dirty glare.

"Hey, watch it sidewalk." He retorted. "You're all just lucky I happen to have such an extensive wardrobe. If not for me, the old man and Presea would still be looking like they doused themselves in red paint."

"Regardless of your influence, I'm sure we would have found suitable arrangements." Regal responded coolly while he and the remaining three exited the estate looking much better and certainly less blood saturated. "Traipsing around Meltokio drenched in blood does not lend itself to being inconspicuous." Zelos rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, and leaving a julianne corpse behind is SO inconspicuous."

"... touché'."

"Save your bickering for later." Raine interjected, waving her staff around in between the pair of boys. "What we need more than anything else is to cure the King before the final dose is administered."

"Okay, I get that." Genis rubbed at the back of his shoulders with a stray hand and attempted to fix the bracers holding up his pants at the same time. "But how are we gonna get into the castle? It's barred to normal citizens as it is and not only are we pretty low on the VIP list, we're wanted to boot."

"There's a passage through the coliseum to the dungeons, but I don't think that'll be accessible anymore." Sheena sighed. "They already had one breakout thanks of Lloyd, me and the dip wad over there."

"Then what do we do?"

"Well, if memory serves right, I think there's a passage through the Pope's office that leads directly into the castle." Zelos mused, twirling a strand of his hair around his fingers as he paced. "If we can get through there, we'll be in business."

"And of course the one place where we'd be the least safe is exactly where we have to go, right?" The precocious preschooler groaned, voice laced with apprehension.

"Pretty much."

"I thought as much." The pint sized professor heaved a sigh and flicked some hair out of her eyes. "Let's get this over with then."

The journey from Zelos' manor to the Church wasn't what anyone would have called an arduous task, since the Chosen's house was barely more than a trot down the street, but once the merry band of minors reached the front veranda of the cathedral, all of them found themselves rather reluctant to press forward. Everyone knew in their minds anything or anyone they'd find lingering in the bowels of the church would be no serious threat, especially after the puree'ing demonstration in the sewers, but regardless of what their minds said, the double doors to the cathedral were incredibly intimidating to anyone of a miniature stature.

After five minutes of intent gaping, Sheena whacked Zelos in the arm and pointed to the door.

"Open it." She commanded.

"I'm not opening it, you open it." Zelos whacked her back.

"I said it first!"

"I said it second!"

"You're the Chosen, you open it!"

"Yeah, I'm the Chosen and you should do my bidding."

"Bid THIS!"

"I'll open it." Raine rolled her eyes and pressed forward. "You're all acting like children." The short summoner and swordsman ceased their squabble, shared a scant incredulous glance, and looked at her like she'd grown a second nose.

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed..."

"Yes. I know." The professor waved them both off and pulled hard on the handle. With an unrelenting groan of the ancient hinges that were centuries past a good oiling, the front barrier of the church lurched forwards and allowed them entry to a dark and abandoned worship hall.

"Where is everyone?" Sheena's nose scrunched up while she craned her neck back and forth to get a good look. "It's completely empty. There's not even a priest on duty."

"Yeah, that's pretty strange." Zelos agreed as they walked past the threshold. "There should be a sermon about to happen right about now. They're more boring than watching paint dry, but I've never seen this place so... barren."

"Hey, I hear something. It's coming from the back." Genis thrust a finger towards a dark doorway in the far back of the deserted room and ran over to it. As soon as he arrived, the precocious preschooler flattened himself against the door and pressed his ear to the surface.

"How could you hear something from that far away?" Sheena asked once they joined him, but let her curiosity fade once she too heard murmurings from the other side of the door. From what it sounded like, there was only one person on the other side, yet a lengthy conversation was being held. Strange indeed. Frowning, Zelos bent down on one knee next to Genis and plastered his ear to the door as well.

"Yep, he's in there alright. He's talking to himself and sounds pretty upset or feverish about something." The childish casanova confirmed. "Who's up for ruining his day?"

"Count me in." Genis rolled up his sleeve and waved his kendama threateningly at the door. "He's got a lot of explaining to do over what he did to Kate and the other half elves."

"How are we gonna get through this door?" The raven haired puffball ran a hand down the slick surface. "It's gotta be solid oak."

"Ah, a good point. But don't worry. There's a very diplomatic approach to all of this." Zelos sat back on his heels, stood up and pointed at the lock.

"Regal, break the door down."

Regal eyed him for a moment, shrugged and kicked the door's lock in. The door's lock made an almighty crunching noise and the door swung in, allowing them entry.

"Oh yes, VERY diplomatic." The Professor rolled her eyes while the redheaded chosen flashed her an award winning grin.

"What can I say? I'm the picture of diplomacy." He beamed and, folding his arms behind his head, sauntered into the rectory like he owned the place. The sole occupant, the dumpy, lard sodden bigot of a Pope, stared dumbly as the parade of prepubescents mosied into his quarters.

"Who are you?" He demanded once the initial shock wore off. "What are you brats doing in here?" Zelos, who was inspecting a dying potted plant, turned his attention to the Pope and gave him a supercilious sniff.

"Well, that's not very polite, not after it's been SO long since we last chatted, your Popiness." He replied with a smirk. "We have so many questions for you."

The Pope blanched.

"You... no, you can't be... You're.. the Chosen!"

"You're sure quick on the uptake." The second grade swordsman unsheathed his sword and pointed it in the Pope's general direction. "First off, you're been poisoning the king, haven't you? Don't bother answering, it was rhetorical, and I don't feel like listening to lies today. Where's the antidote? You must have one."

"I don't know-"

"It would not be wise to deny possessing a serum if you wish to keep your head on your shoulders. You would not be the first today who chose... poorly." The blade of an axe brandished itself just under the Pope's nose. The Pope's beady eyes followed down the shaft of the axe to the wielder, a pink haired pigtailed girl whose eyes clearly said she wasn't in the mood for playing games.

"I say we make him drink the poison." Raine gestured to the tiny bottle clutched in her grip. "He won't die immediately, so we'll at least have a show."

"Alright, it's in the desk!" He howled and waved a sausage like finger at the top drawer. Genis quickly dashed to the drawer, yanked it open, and after a minute of rummaging, held up a small flask of crystal clear liquid.

"Got it!" He grinned and stuffed the bottle into his pants pocket. However, when everyone's attention was taken by his discovery, the Pope pushed away the blade of Presea's axe, ran around the other side of the desk towards the back wall and knocked Genis flat.

"Yah!" Genis yelled in agony when his elbow collided with the stone floor, his body swiftly following suit. "Ow..."

"Genis!" Everyone made to rush forwards, but a blaring alarm glued them in their spots. The Pope sneered.

"I've just summoned the guards. You shan't live long, Chosen traitor, and then I will have complete control over the church without you meddling about!"

"Yeah, like anyone'd rally to the church without the Chosen!" Sheena shot back, puff flared and wild. "No poster boy, no church. Anybody with a brain knows that!"

"We don't need him, we have Seles."

That hit a nerve.

"You are NOT bringing my sister into this, you twisted old cow!" Zelos brandished his sword at the Pope, murderous intent blazing in his eyes. "You touch one hair on her head and I'll string you up in the middle of Flanoir harbor!" Genis blinked in confusion.

"You have a sister?"

"Not now, Shrimp!"

"She'd be a much better candidate for Chosen than you ever were." The Pope taunted, undaunted by his threats. "If it hadn't been for you, my half elf banishment act would have been in full flux by now!"

Zelos' expression softened slightly and he looked at the floor.

"... yeah well, I won't disagree with that." He murmured, but quickly regained his rage. "But if you think I'm gonna lie down and take any of that nonsense over the half elves, you're dumber than you look!"

The others shared puzzled glances.

"Half elf banishment act?" Sheena repeated. "What in all the Mizuho hells is that?"

"All those of inferior blood will be shipped off to an island where they can fester and rot like they deserve. And it work have worked too-"

"- If it hadn't been for that meddling me?" Zelos interrupted. "Even when I didn't like half elves, I knew that was wrong, you sick bastard. Like I was gonna ever let you do that."

"That's horrible!" Genis gasped as Raine bent down to help him off the floor. "How could you do that? Your own daughter's a half elf! That's a crime against sentient beings!"

"It's progress!" The Pope shot back. "Anyone different must be eliminated for the sake of the remaining pure population!"

Genis stared at him, horrified at his perverse view of life, and let his shoulders sink like a huge anchor had been chained to his back.

".. Nothing's wrong with us. We're normal." He mumbled tearfully against his sister's shoulder. "Why do humans treat us like this?"

"Not humans, kid. Assholes." Zelos corrected and trained his eyes back on the Pope. "If Lloyd were here, he'd kick your ass, give you a lecture, and then kick your ass again!"

"Half elves should be eradicated! Those who are different must be destroyed!" The Pope squealed like the fat pig he was, inching his way towards a bookcase paneled wall. Presea's eyes narrowed.

"If we go by that logic, the only one who is different in this room... is you." She took a step forwards and lifted her axe. "Thus by your own logic, you must be destroyed."

"I suggest you run."

The Pope didn't need to be told twice. He pulled a book on the second shelf from the top, revealing a secret passage and disappeared down the catacomb.

"AFTER HIM! Don't let him get away!" Sheena shouted, kicking up dust in her mad flight through the passage.

"Get back here so I can kick your ass!" Zelos roared and pursued after him down the corridor into the darkness, the rest of the familial flock hot on his trail.

* * *

Lloyd was bored. Very bored. The kind of bored that 'clung to the air and held him down against the floor' bored.

Heh... 'floor bored'.. funny. The scrawny boy let out a halfhearted chuckle and let himself sink further downward, not in the mood to argue with gravity. At one point or another in his bored state of affairs, Lloyd had sprawled himself out on the floor and begun watching the plaster that made up the ceiling. So far, it had done absolutely nothing. Just how he liked ceilings to be. Boring, stationary and not trying to crush him like a spider underneath a shoe.

The Tower of Mana could learn a thing or two from this ceiling.

Lloyd let his eyes trail back and forth on the ceiling, before a tower of books hit a nearby library desk with a satisfactory 'thump'. His russet eyes swiveled lazily towards the sound. A huge pile of books precariously balanced themselves over an even larger array of open ones, and Kratos loomed over them all, his reading glasses perched on his nose.

'Kratos sure does an awful lot of looming.' Lloyd flipped on his side and held his head with his hand. The seraphim in question had splayed the books all over the place and watched them intently like he expected the answer or whatever he was looking for to spring out of the text like a bouncy ball. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Lloyd sighed and closed his eyes. Even though he didn't see much point in all this researching, Kratos was in his element, so he wouldn't push his luck. Anything that kept Kratos from looming over him while his so called test was in progress wasn't so bad in his book.

Test. Lloyd snorted again.

At the beginning of this little 'test', if that was what he was supposed to call it, Lloyd had been a bundle of nerves, having no clue what to expect once it was underway. Who'd have thought his test would consist mostly of 'Behave, don't make any noise while I work, don't make a scene of yourself and I'll let you live'. How was this any different from any other time he went anywhere with Kratos? Lloyd's face soured. And here he was worried. Still, he'd only been in the castle for what he estimated to be about an hour, so perhaps he shouldn't try jinxing himself just yet.

"So... is this it?" Lloyd asked dully, his eyes glazing over more and more by the minute.

"What exactly do you mean by 'it'?" Kratos inquired as he picked up a book from the middle of the pile with a lightning quick motion that barely made the pile tilt.

"Well, all we've done so far is come in, make a couple turns, find the library and lock the door so no one could get in." Lloyd thrust one skinny finger at the library's entrance. "I know you like privacy and all, but for a test, this hasn't been very... eventful."

"I trust you've never heard the old mizuhoan curse, 'May you live in interesting times', then."

"Nope and even if I had, or understood what you meant, that wouldn't change the fact I thought I'd be doing more than just decorating the floor."

"If you believe your prone form to be a decoration of the flooring, then perhaps we ought to have a discussion over the difference between a decoration and detritus-" Kratos lifted his eyes to glance at Lloyd and froze. Lloyd grinned. He'd been wondering when Kratos would finally spot the multiple doodles stretched all over the library's layer of dust on the floor.

"Lloyd, exactly what are those supposed to be?" Kratos asked.

"I dunno, random stuff I guess." Lloyd gestured to the various doodles etched in the layer of airborne debris like he was unveiling an art gallery. "What do you think?"

"I think that had better not be a depiction of me lecturing you."

"Eheh. Was it that obvious?" The six year old swordsman grinned sheepishly, wiping the drawing that suspiciously looked like an exaggerated rendition of the seraphim towering over a desk whilst lecturing a second figure who was asleep in a corner. "I was just trying to keep myself busy. You looked pretty enthralled with what you were doing, so I figured the best way to be useful would be to preoccupy myself." The seraph surveyed him again, let out an exasperated sigh and gestured for him to approach the desk.

"Lloyd, if you wish to be of use, stop making dust angels and get over here."

Nodding petulantly since he was rather put out Kratos hadn't understood the fine subtlety of dust art, Lloyd got up from the floor and traipsed over to the desk covered with Kratos' various studying implements. However, upon getting close enough to touch it, Lloyd realized the desk was just a mite too tall for him to easily peer onto the surface. One stool retrieval later, the miniscule boy folded his arms onto the sleek desktop and let his head sink into the crux of his elbow.

"Out of curiosity, just what are you doing?" Lloyd asked, halfheartedly pointing at the tabletop with one of his limp limbs. Glancing up from his work, the archaic angel spared Lloyd a momentary glimpse, shook his head and returned to his work.

"I'm reading."

Lloyd rolled his eyes and flopped his face into his arm.

"I figured that much, but what about?"

"Hopefully, it will give the answer on how to fix you."

Lloyd's face shot up from his arm.

"Fi... '_fix me_'?" He repeated.

"Yes."

"Why? I-I've never even kissed a girl!"

Kratos paused, closed his eyes as if calming himself, opened them again, and sent him an incredibly withering scowl.

"Not that kind of 'fix'." He explained through clenched teeth. "I'm looking for a way to change your body back into that of a teenager."

"... oh."

"Just go look and see if you can find anything." Kratos let out another exacerbated breath and refocused on his work. Feeling rather foolish over his momentary outburst, Lloyd plucked a book from the stack teetering dangerously back and forth and hopped down from the stool. He opened the book and quickly skimmed it, but didn't see anything that even began to look like it would be of help. Not that he'd expected to, mind. How many cases could there be of people randomly having years detracted from their actual age? Probably not enough to get their own footnote in a book, let alone their own section.

"Kratos, you don't mind if I go for a walk, do you?" Lloyd set the book of no help back on the desktop and hooked a thumb at the door.

"It depends. Just what do you plan to do on this little excursion of yours?" The seraphim replied. Lloyd shrugged.

"Probably walking. Maybe a little trotting here and there and I might even canter."

"As long as your plans don't include inciting a riot, I don't suppose I care."

"Great!" Lloyd pumped his fist into the air and shrunk back at Kratos' scrutinizing gaze. "Don't worry, I won't do anything. I'll just take a little walk to stretch my legs and be right back. No incidents."

"I'll hold you to that. Remember I am still testing you."

'Like I could forget.' Lloyd groused, but chose not to make his thoughts known. Quickly he moved to the door, wrenched it open and slipped out before Kratos had the chance to change his mind.

The hall was about as interesting as the library. It was empty and boring to look at, but it was spacious and much less 'Kratos-y', so Lloyd saw little reason to complain. Even though he was still trying to convince Kratos to defect to his side permanently, he desperately needed some alone time to sort out what his next move should be. It was hard to think out loud when the subject of one's thinking was close enough to make suggestions. He sauntered in a blank haze until he was around the corner and down two flights of stairs and entered what looked like an old fashioned art gallery.

Lloyd grimaced when he reached the end of the first corridor and saw three more corridors branching off into their own directions.

The idea of an art gallery seemed a little supercilious to him, but since he was technically in a castle owned by royalty, the King could probably get away with it. Lloyd laughed to himself. It must've been good to be the King.

'Hm.. which one to take..' The scrawny six year old eyed the three hallways and eventually settled for the corridor marked 'freshly restored paintings'. That sounded promising.

However, most of the paintings weren't that fascinating. Most of them were just landscapes with some tree or another, and not nearly as compelling as he had hoped. Lloyd was just about to turn around and head back out of the hall until one of them caught his eye and urged him closer.

In a frame inlaid with gold filigree sat an old painting of a stern older man with very broad shoulders. The man looked to be of a muscular build, built for function and in some degrees show, and wore a dress uniform of crushed black velvet with silver trim while he stood in front of a blue and silver coat of arms. A sword rested at his side and a gallery's worth of medals hung on the breast of his uniform, suggesting he was a very high ranking military officer of some kind or another. His face was handsome in its own way, with strong, yet fitting features, and dark eyebrows set at what looked like a perpetually adamant and obdurate expression. Obsidian hair overtook the brows and had been brushed off to the side in some effort to keep his face visible for whoever was painting. Even though it was under apparent stress to stay in place, the hair had some rebellion to it. Each of the various layers of inky hair tapered off into a set of unruly pike like tendrils that went to the march of their own drummer, ending in a layer just below his chin and tapering off at the nape of his neck.

Still, the man in the portrait didn't seem to care about what his hair was doing. If his expression was anything to go by, he looked like he felt had better things to do than just stand around for some artist to finish immortalizing his disdain at being there in the first place.

Despite his jet black hair, the officer leaned more towards the paler side for a skin tone and the dark colors he wore along with his hair didn't do much to remedy his complexion. Still, for some weird reason, they seemed to suit him and any other color would have seemed out of place. Age wise he looked to be about in his early forties, with a few age lines and a couple streaks of silver marring his otherwise midnight hair. Regardless, the effects of age hadn't completely wrought down on him at that point.

Overall, the man in the painting was nothing less of striking, be it handsome, huge, or just plain intimidating.

But it wasn't the decorations on his chest, nor the inky hair, or the sword at his side that mesmerized Lloyd so he daren't look away.

The man in the painting had the reddest eyes Lloyd had ever seen. Redder than Ifreet's chest, the irises of the man could have been painted with arterial blood. Lloyd wasn't entirely sure they weren't. His pupils popped against the backdrop of lava which seemingly bled into the whites of his eyes, which left Lloyd feeling rather unsettled. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. The way the painting gazed at him was so piercing, it was like the officer was staring straight into his soul, reading Lloyd from cover to cover like a light novel.

He just felt so... little underneath the painting's unwavering gaze.

Taking a step closer, Lloyd locked eyes with the intimidating man in the painting and found himself unable to draw away. He'd had seen reddish eyes before. He'd looked in the mirror more than once. He knew reddish eyes existed. Hell, everybody did.

But... the eyes possessed by the man in the painting were so intense, so fiery...

... _he_ looked possessed.

Lloyd's back shuddered with a chill and he stepped away from the painting. If a painting could do that, just what could the man in the painting have been like in the flesh? Judging by the medals and decorations from what could have been from nothing short of a series of victories in battle, he had a feeling this was a man who just didn't lose.

Lloyd shook his head. He was acting silly. There was no way that the guy in the painting could have had eyes that intense. It was just the artist's depiction. It had to be. Or it could have been the huge difference between his skin, his hair and his eyes. Kratos' eyes he guessed were kinda sorta reddish, but his hair was much redder than his eyes and took away from the immediate effect. They never freaked Lloyd out that much, not even when they were on opposite sides of the battlefield. The idea of merely being in the room with the man in the painting did much more nerve damage than that.

'I wonder if he was a knight or something.' Lloyd propped up his chin into his palm as he watched the portrait watch him back. 'He doesn't look like a king, but he probably was really important.' The painting was probably ancient if it had needed to be restored, so any chances of him actually coming across the knight were null. Still, a nagging feeling in the back of his brain kept poking at the front until he couldn't stand it anymore. He had to know who the guy in the painting was before he burst, if only to get some peace of mind.

Just below the center of the painting stood a plaque inlaid in the frame, with some really loopy writing etched in the polished gold. Lloyd's face brightened and he leaned in to see just what the plaque had to say. Upon getting a better look at the plaque, however, Lloyd's shoulders and mood drooped.

He couldn't read it. The words were in some weird funky script that didn't look like anything he'd ever seen in books. The thin boy heaved a sigh. It was probably in angelic or something close to it. Colette or the Professor probably could have read it if they were there, but they weren't, so that did him little good. He briefly entertained the notion of going back to the library and dragging Kratos out to get a translation, but given his mood and lack of patience, that probably wouldn't have been the best course of action.

So, Lloyd sat down in the middle of the hallway and let himself once again be immersed in the all encompassing presence of Commander No Name.

"Stop!"

An unworldly shriek ripped Lloyd right out of his revelry and sent him bounding to his feet. Who said that and more importantly, had they said it to him? Last time he checked, observing a painting whilst sitting in a corridor wasn't under the list of impending shenanigans.

"Somebody stop him!" The high pitched voice squealed again, drawing closer. "He's poisoning the King!"

Lloyd blinked, and immediately unsheathed his swords. If there was someone poisoning the King, that would explain why the King was sick all the time, despite Zelos saying the King was normally the picture of health. He couldn't let someone like that get past him, not for anything. The bounding of feet slapping down on the stone floor began to echo closer and closer, and Lloyd's grip on his swords tightened with every passing moment. Lloyd's eyes focused on the shadow coming ever closer. It was almost within range. He couldn't make out just who or what it was in the dim lamplight of the gallery, but the instinctual growling in the pit of his stomach told him it was now or he'd miss his chance. With an unholy bellow, Lloyd leaped into the air, swords aloft, and body slammed the creature, ramming his foot into its face. It howled in agony, staggered back into a suit of armor in confusion and screamed when the mace that the suit had been holding came crashing down, slamming right into its head. It swayed from side to side, collapsed against the side of the wall and ceased to move.

"You picked the wrong guy to mess with..." Lloyd sheathed his sword and grinned, but his grin quickly shifted to a look of horror when the dim lamplight illuminated the face of the would be escapee.

The Pope laid flat on the floor in an awkward arrangement, but his face smushed up against the side of the wall. Apparently when Lloyd's foot made contact with his face, he'd slid down the wall to the ground, leaving a slimy trail on the wallpaper. And, to make matters that much worse, speckles of blood dotted all over the chest of the black haired officer in the painting.

"... oh crap." The brown haired boy cringed. "I am in trouble."

"Lloyd!"

"Guys?" Lloyd yanked his sword back out of his holster, whirled around and almost let his eyes boggle as his friends came bounding at him out of nowhere. His day was just getting weirder by the second. "What are you doing here?"

"No time!" Genis ducked underneath Regal's elbow, face frantic. "Did you see where the Pope went?"

"Uh..." Lloyd looked over his shoulder at the prone Pope.

"Good work, Lloyd!" Zelos beamed and patted him on the back. "Now kick him in the kidneys and I'll get him in the spleen!"

"Lloyd, what did you do?" Sheena demanded, ignoring Zelos. "We were gonna capture him, not clobber him!"

"Wh- what? I didn't know! I thought I was helping!" Lloyd protested. "To be fair, it was pretty dark down here, and when people yell 'hey, he's poisoning the king', I didn't expect them to mean, 'Ask him to stop so we can have a nice little chat'. You're lucky I even reacted at all!"

"He's not dead.. is he?" Genis glanced at the heap of Pope on the floor.

"No, I don't think so." Lloyd ran his hand through his hair. "I kicked him in the face pretty hard, but not enough to kill him. I don't have that kinda power anymore."

"You're more powerful than you think you are." Zelos hooked an arm around Lloyd's shoulders. "Kid or no, you're a force to be reckoned with, Bud. I'm just disappointed that it wasn't me who got to boot him in the face. Hey, speaking of people who need a kick in the head, where's the old man?"

"Um, in the library last I checked." Lloyd shrugged Zelos off. "He was busy researching stuff, so I went for a walk. Hence why I'm down here."

"Lloyd, since when do you use 'hence'?" Genis grinned. Lloyd shrugged again.

"I dunno. So, what the heck are you guys doing here anyway?"

"It's a bit of a long story. See, we were trying to get through the sewer and-"

"You there, halt in the name of the King!"

Lloyd froze. So did everyone else. So much for their reunion. Letting none of his air escape his lungs, Lloyd pivoted on the spot and saw two very large, very angry knights lurch down the hallway, spears in their hands and murderous intent in the slits of their helmets. They didn't look like Papal ones, but regardless, they still looked angry.

Lloyd swallowed hard. Kratos had said no incidents. He'd promised no incidents. Sworn even. Yet there he was, sword in one hand, unconscious Pope in the corner and blood spatter on a freshly restored, probably priceless painting, not to mention the two irate knights who were going to exact vengeance in a way that would only end in a fight.

Kratos was going to fail him for sure.

"Now what do we do?" Sheena hissed at Zelos in a panic. "If we get caught like this, no one will listen!"

"I know, I know!" He hissed back.

"What are all of you doing down here?" One of the guards demanded. "For that matter, how did you even get in here?"

"Uh... side entrance?" The scarlet headed Chosen offered with a grin. The guards didn't find him amusing.

"State your business here, whelp, or we will remove you forcibly."

"Er... a little help here?" The slender swordsman looked to his compadres, who shrugged in dismay. Telling them they had been in hot pursuit of the King's would be assassin, who turned out to be the Pope, and had rendered said Pope unconscious by a six year old boy probably wouldn't have flown, nor would it have been the brightest thing to do if they wanted to remain alive. Then again, chasing a figurehead of the church through an art gallery probably wasn't the brightest move either. Hindsight was a very irksome thing, it turned out.

However, the guards came to their own conclusions without their unwanted excuses. The light above the nightmarish officer's painting hadn't yet settled down from the earlier chaos and swung back and forth. The illumination eventually reached the tub of lard laying spread eagle on the floor and gave all the answers the guards needed to lock them up for all eternity and then some.

"The Pope... this is treason, not to mention a crime against the church!" The knight to the right gasped and pointed his spear at Zelos' chest. "Explain yourselves or we will be forced to arrest you."

Zelos snorted and moved the spear away with two fingers.

"Aren't you going to arrest us anyway?"

"No, don't arrest them!" Lloyd jumped in front of his friends, arms spread wide. "It was my fault, I'm the one that did it." The knights looked to each other, clearly confused, and laughed.

"An amusing notion, to be sure." The guard on the right tapped his spear against the floor. "Boy, you look barely strong enough to lift a bag of grain, let alone capable of knocking a grown man senseless. It is noble you wish to take the brunt of punishment, which is most likely due for the eldest boy," Regal looked affronted, " But you must realize such actions would be foolish."

"That's never stopped me before." Lloyd retorted. "And I'm a lot stronger than I look. Regal didn't do it, I did."

"Oh? And if that were true, how did you even get down here? Let me guess, you flew through a window."

"I'm here with someone. I didn't know it was off limits. I was just taking a walk." The brown haired boy immediately leapt into an explanation. "I was minding my own business when I heard someone yelling about someone was poisoning the King and was trying to get away! I couldn't let that happen so I sprang into action and... knocked him out. It was an accident! I didn't mean to ... well... okay I did, but I didn't know it was the Pope who was poisoning the king."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say.

"How dare you accuse the Pope of such treasonous acts!" One of the knights exclaimed and backhanded him across the face. Lloyd staggered back by the sheer force of the blow, stumbled over the still unconscious heap of the Pope and landed against the wall hard.

"Lloyd!" Genis was about ready to spring on the perpetrator and, judging from the looks on the others' faces, they weren't far behind.

"What'd you do that for, you big dumb jerk!" Sheena demanded, face red as a cherry. "He didn't do anything to you!"

"He blasphemed against the church, a crime punishable by life imprisonment!"

"Bullcrap!" Zelos shouted, face just as rosy. "I've been saying stuff worse than that for years and no one's called me on it!"

"So you all admit to acts of heresy?"

"Uh... um... oh crud."

"Good going, you idiot!" Sheena bellowed. "Now we're all in trouble!"

"Like we weren't already?" Zelos yelled back. "Take a look around or do you need glasses?"

"Such discord is hindering productivity." Presea reported to no one in particular and raised her axe for the impending altercation.

"Indeed it is." Regal agreed.

"Y'know, you two having a commentary on their bickering doesn't help things much!" Genis and his sister snapped at the same time.

They were so busy nattering amongst themselves, no one caught the faint glow of blue in the far off corner.

"You need to stop your petty squabble." Regal stepped between Sheena and Zelos and forcibly removed them from each other. "All your caterwauling will do is garner more unwanted attention."

"I don't care who started it." He added when both of their mouths opened to protest. Grumbling, the pair of cantankerous children shut their traps and turned their backs on the other. The room grew very quiet.

"Right then." Raine nodded approvingly. "Perhaps now we can get back to being arrested then." She turned towards the guards, but they didn't seem all that interested in making an arrest. In fact, they seemed rather preoccupied with something else entirely.

Scratch preoccupied, they looked as though they were about to soil their armor.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Genis' nose wrinkled. Despite having seen a lot during their travels, the group had never seen two grown men so utterly panic stricken.

"It.. it can't be!" The one on the right gasped in a panic, brandishing a spear at whatever it was that had rattled him.

"It is!" The second quickly yanked the spear out from the first's grip. "Don't! If you even think of sparring, you'll be dead for sure!"

The gaggle of kids shared a group wide wary stare. Slowly, they revolved on the spot and took a peek in the direction that the knights had welded their eyes towards.

It didn't take long to figure out what they were gaping at.

Lloyd held his head in his hands and groaned. The blow to the noggin had been enough to render him temporarily senseless and whenever that happened, it usually took him a moment or two to refocus. Thanks to the sharp edge of the gauntlet that struck him, a large gash sat just above Lloyd's eye and leaked blood down the side of his face like a waterfall. Truthfully, the gash didn't look or feel that deep, but as with any facial wounds, it bled like a stuck pig. Regardless of his head wound, it wasn't that bad in the grand scheme of things. He'd had far worse, especially if recent memory was to be of any reference.

The whole image wasn't anything out of the ordinary, nor would it have been...

... if he'd been on the ground.

Lloyd was _floating_.

Well, more like a flutter. The cerulean wings protruding from his scapula flapped up and down rapidly in an awkward attempt to keep him aloft, yet only doing half the job they should. The wings in question were larger in wingspan than Colette's had been, but they were nowhere the size of Kratos' or even Yuan's. Perhaps that was another side effect of growing so young so fast.

They were very unlike those of Colette or any of the seraphim they'd seen before for another reason. One or two flaps of their wings could keep them for up for ages, but Lloyd's waved up and down like a baby bird who hadn't yet mastered the ability of being able to fly without looking ridiculous.

They looked majestic. He looked like a hummingbird.

And of course, Lloyd hadn't noticed.

"... oh, my head. That hurt, you son of a bitch." Lloyd removed his hands from his face to glare menacingly at the cowering guards, but swapped his scowl for a look of bewilderment when he noticed all eight of them, his friends included, gaping at him. "What did you hit me for and ... what are you guys looking at?"

The guards took no time to start full on panicking.

"The second coming of the Angel of Death that was foretold has come true! And you struck him, you imbecile. We'll perish for sure!" The one on the left threw down his spear and took several steps back.

"The end is near!" The other fell to his knees and began to pray. "Oh, Goddess Martel, have pity on me!"

"... huh?" Lloyd blinked. 'Angel of Death'? Wasn't that what that nun at the House of Guidance had talked about when he'd asked about the...

... the Kratos bust.

Lloyd quickly peered over his shoulder, but saw nothing but the wall. No sign of Kratos anywhere. So just what were those guards cowering about?

"Uh... yes, yes it has!" Zelos dashed in front of Lloyd and brandished one menacing finger at the awestruck guards. "The Pope, in his blasphemous ways, rejected the Chosen as the main power of the Church of Martel and thus angered the Angel of Death! Repent, foul sinners, for thine judgment is nigh!" Sheena blanched and yanked him back with both hands.

"Zelos, what are you doing?" She hissed in his ear. The Chosen to be grinned at her.

"Being awesome. Just watch." The cherubim casanova plucked her fingers from his sleeve, straightened up and marched back into the fray.

"Thou wilt surely perish at the cleansing hands of the Seraphim of Destruction himself!" Zelos reassumed his place in the imaginary pulpit and fixed them with a piercing stare. "Repent!"

It was at times like that it became glaringly obvious why he was the Chosen, for more reasons than just blood.

"He is more terrifying than we ever imagined!" The second knight shook in his armor, causing to clink all over the place. The first looked equally as cowed and both didn't break their gaze from Lloyd, who was feeling more perplex as the seconds went by. What the hell were they talking about?

"What's going on?" He whispered frantically down at the burgundy haired boy.

"Lloyd, play along, you doofus. In case you haven't noticed, you're the Angel of Death." Zelos hissed over his shoulder and faced the dumbstruck guards. "You have invoked the wrath of The Death Bringer himself! Pray for your menial existence!"

The second guard dropped to his knees, as the first had done.

"So powerful and yet... so small." He murmured against clasped hands, desperately trying to pray for their lives. If the situation hadn't been so dire, the whole thing would probably have been comical.

"He's tinier right now for... travel conveniences." The scarlet swordsman gestured to Lloyd behind him with a flick of his wrist. "But still equally as powerful! Fear him, mere mortals and wish for a swift death, if he is feeling generous!" Zelos quickly glanced over his shoulder and jerked his head at the two genuflecting knights.

"Lloyd, start using 'judgment'."

"What? I don't know how to do that-"

"Just pretend you do. And try to look terrifying. That dumb look on your mug is only ruining my spiel."

Lloyd grimaced. This entire thing was making him really uncomfortable. He'd come to the castle to show how well he could handle being a castle situation, but he hadn't figured terrorizing the staff was going to be part of his experience. Still, he didn't have much choice. It was either go along with Zelos half baked scheme, or explain to Kratos why he was sitting in a cell in the dungeon on charges of treason against the crown. Steeling himself, Lloyd spared the austere composition on the wall for some inspiration and glared a glare that would have made Kratos proud.

"... very well. I shall do as you suggest." He stated in his best 'Kratos' voice, completed with folding his arms across his chest and scowling down the bridge of his nose at them.

Apparently all that time spent in front of a mirror mocking Kratos had paid off. The guards shifted back on their knees and began to quake even more. The halls sounded like someone was dropping plates onto a hardwood floor.

"No, please have mercy on us!" They cried fearfully. "We will do all as you command!"

Lloyd didn't know how to react, so he remained silent and continued to scowl. That seemed to really do the trick, because the guards looked even more nervous than he guessed they would have if he'd spoken. Hm... maybe there was something to this whole 'silent disapproval approach' Kratos had inflicted on him on many occasions.

Zelos, on the other hand, saw his chance and pounced.

"The Chosen will be reinstated as the indisputable head of the Church of Martel! You will arrest the Pope and his minions, the Papal knights!" He demanded. The capitulating knights uncomfortably peered at each other.

"But.. you are but children-"

"Yeah, and we've got a really pissed off Angel of Death. You really want to argue, or are you gonna get your rears in gear and go spread the word?" Zelos wheeled around and spread his arms out in a way someone would embrace another's presence.

"We beg of thee, O Holy Angel of Death, do not smite these poor blaggards with thine rays of judgment!" He crowed. Lloyd fought the urge to sigh. He was really getting into this. It was almost a bit embarrassing. Still, he nodded curtly, despite his head pounding from the cut still spilling crimson liquid. Thankfully, most of it had been sponged away by his rogue tendril of hair that brushed across his face, but the darn thing had become so heavy, it sank over his eye so he couldn't see. To make matters worse, he couldn't brush it out of his eyes, or that would kill the mood. So he just let it hang there for the time being.

"I shall spare you... if you comply." He asseverated.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hop to it!" Zelos ordained, stabbing a finger in the direction of the stairs.

"We will! We will!" The guards leapt to their feet and flew out of room, the sound of clanking armor echoing throughout the corridors. The ruby haired chosen maintained his stance for a moment, before wheeling around, planting his fists on his hips and beaming smugly.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you deal with the clergy."

"I can't believe that worked." Sheena's jaw hung open.

"I can't believe they're that gullible." Raine shook her head in a disapproving fashion.

"I can't get down."

All heads turned upwards to see Lloyd, who was trying to claw his way back towards the floor via a set of curtains, and failing miserably. Regal, being the tallest, reached up, pulled down on Lloyd's ankle and brought him back to their level. However, he daren't let go for fear of Lloyd floating back towards the ceiling like a wayward balloon.

"Thanks, Regal." Lloyd grinned gratefully.

"You're wel-**come**."

Everybody froze.

"Regal, your voice cracked!" Genis gasped. Zelos looked rather amused, as did Sheena and Raine, but Regal didn't find the humor.

"I'm well aware of that. I do have ears." He rebuked tensely, his grip on Lloyd's ankle tightening. Lloyd winced, but didn't have the heart to voice his complaints. What if Regal let go and he drifted out a stray window? He'd never set foot on the ground again. His only hope would to be to get caught in a tree and have someone climb up and untangle him like a renegade kite.

"How do I get down?" He instead asked. "Seriously guys, I miss the floor."

"Think about lowering yourself to the ground and then visualize yourself doing it." Raine suggested. "Mind over matter, Lloyd." Lloyd nodded apprehensively, shut his eyes and wished with all his might that he was standing with both feet firmly planted on the floor.

Sure enough, his body began to lower towards the ground until Lloyd felt the soles of his shoes touch down with the tiles. The lilliputian boy let out a breath of relief he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Whew... that was an experience." He breathed heavily. 'Not one I'm willing to repeat, but an experience.' Now that he was no longer at the mercy of a stray breeze, Lloyd glanced over his shoulders and felt his mood slump a bit. Despite his landing success, the blue appendages were still there. Still, he was on the ground, so one victory at a time, he guessed.

"Well, who'd have thought a smack to the head was all you needed to kickstart the angel stuff?" Zelos itched the wink of his nose, a wry grin playing on his face. "If we'd have known that, the cool beauty could've sped up the sylvarant regeneration journey in a matter of seconds."

Raine took the opportunity to smack him in the head.

"I don't think that could solely be the case." Regal mused. "Perhaps your body sensed you were in danger and instinct boosted your evolution to the next level."

"You think so?" Lloyd asked with his eyes still fixed on his wings, fluttering them back and forth. "Hey, how do you shut these things off?"

"Just think about it maybe?" The scrawny summoner shrugged. Genis snorted.

"Oh great. If we leave it to mind power, we're gonna be here all day!"

"Hey! That's real nice to say to the guy who just saved your hides." Lloyd grumbled, turning to glower at him once the wings finally put themselves away. "Speaking of which... why were you guys here again?"

"Well, we were chasing him because he was poisoning the King with the help of Vharley..."

A chilling stillness draped itself like a blanket over their heads, leaving each one empty and wide eyed as they remembered what they'd been there for in the first place.

"THE KING!"

By the time the doors to the anteroom of the King's private chambers were reached, no one could breathe. A crazed sprint from one of the lower levels to the top of a gargantuan building did that to one's respiratory system. Plus, things hadn't been bettered when they tried to fill Lloyd in on the highlights of events he missed during his absence in the middle of said mad dash. Once the band of ragtag ruffians reached the top veranda, everyone fell to the ground from exhaustion and laid in a heap, trying to catch their breath.

"S-so that's... where we are right now." Genis gasped for air like a dying flounder on a dock. Lloyd managed a nod, inhaling and exhaling heavily through his nose. His cheeks were hot and flushed, he could feel it, but despite his lack of breath, he didn't feel excessively tired. A side effect of the angelic process perhaps. Well, it didn't matter in the long run why, he supposed. He was just glad he still had some energy left just in case he needed it.

"Vharley's been... working with the Pope ...poisoning the King, you said?" He confirmed with a rasp. Zelos, whose hair had frizzed significantly during the exertion of heat and strain, brushed his would be mane out of his face and nodded.

"Yeah... but you... don't need to wo-worry about that jerkwad." He replied. "He's a.. a stain on the floor... literally." Lloyd shook his head and closed his eyes. He didn't know exactly what the slender acolyte had meant, but judging from the grim expressions adorning the pained faces of the others, he didn't want to find out. Instead, Lloyd ran a hand through his bloodstained hair, took in a deep breath and faced the others.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" He asked them, suddenly serious. "Do you guys have the antidote?"

"Yes, we procured it in the Pope's office." The petite Professor replied, holding aloft the small bottle. "If we give it to the King, I believe that should be enough to purge the poison from his system."

"Good. Alright, I see two guards at the entrance to his room." Lloyd craned his neck around the bend. "And I don't think they'll be fooled by that little trick that worked with the other two guards."

"We're gonna need a diversion to get them away from that door. Once that's done, we'll be able to get in." The slight swordsman pointed a finger at the oak door and retracted his head from around the corner.

"What do we do then if there are guards inside?" Sheena inquired.

"If there are guards in there, we'll have to fend them off long enough for the King to hear us out. I'll go in first, because I'm faster than the others, but I'm going to need some backup forces. Sheena, how fast are you?"

Sheena beamed.

"Pretty darned, if I do say so myself." Zelos snorted.

"Yeah, now she doesn't have to counteract her torso weight when she runs. Way more aerodynamic."

"Hey!"

"Focus, you guys." Lloyd frowned impatiently and focused his attention on Genis. "Genis, I need you to get them out of the way. If you use a weaker lightning based attack, that should stun them temporarily. Can I count on you?" Genis held up his kendama and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm hurt you'd even have to ask that, Lloyd." He grinned wryly. "Just tell me where and when and I'll fry them like an egg in a pan." Lloyd glowed and ruffled Genis' hair.

"Okay, while Genis is doing that, I'm gonna need all of you with me. Sheena, you should go first and knock anyone who might rush to the door off balance. Once you're inside, Regal and I will begin the assault, then followed up by Zelos and Presea. Professor, you come in last so in case anything gets dicey, you can heal anyone before the potential enemies get the upper hand. Genis, you're small, so find a safe spot no one else can follow you into and start casting."

If we do this right, we should have the whole place under control before they even know what's what. Once we do, we explain what's going on, give the King the antidote and book it. Agreed?" Lloyd glanced up from the battle plan he'd traced in the air with his finger and grinned. The others didn't grin or even really react. They just sorta... gawked at him with their mouths open.

"... what?" He asked uncomfortably, feeling like he'd been put under a microscope and not liking it.

"We'll... uh... ask you later." Zelos gingerly patted him on the arm. Lloyd raised an eyebrow curiously, but shrugged it off and returned to the present. He could be curious later. Right then, he had a room to bust into and a King to save.

"Ready?" He whispered, eyeing the guards at the door. Genis angled his head in acknowledgment and held his kendama outstretched whilst beginning to cast.

"Now!"

"Spark wave!"

A huge ball of electricity pulsed right above the two guards standing against the door and ran through their armor like lightning through a puddle. The knights collapsed against each other and fell forward, thoroughly knocked senseless.

"Good work, Genis!" Lloyd pumped his fist into the air and bounded forwards. After stepping over the guards, he gripped the chamber doors large handles and gave a tug, but they didn't budge.

"The door's locked!" Sheena pointed to the golden etched keyhole. "Now what do we do, pick the lock?"

"There's no time. It's too intricate." Lloyd peeked through the keyhole and pressed his head to the surface. " There's only one thing to do. We'll have to force it down."

"Oh, we're doing this again, are we?" Zelos grinned mischievously. "Sweet."

"What are you- Oh, never mind." Lloyd rolled his eyes and glared down the barrier between himself and the King. As fast as he could, the six year old swordsman bolted back against the railing, turned, pushed off the banister and charged the door. With all his body weight and force behind it, Lloyd kicked into the door's lock and broke it clean through. Unfortunately, unlike before with Regal, the entire door flew right off its hinges and clattered to the floor.

However, what was inside didn't meet Lloyd's predictions in the slightest.

There wasn't an army of guards inside the chambers. There wasn't a platoon of guards. Heck, there weren't even a couple of guards.

Inside the room, there was the Princess, the King and one lone guard who frankly looked like he wanted to hide behind the sofa. The occupants in the room gawked at him, jaws agape.

Lloyd felt very awkward very fast.

"... uh... hi." He waved.

They took it better than he expected. The guard fainted dead away on the floor, the Princess let out a loud scream and the King... well, he was busy growing an angry shade of purple.

"Who are you and why did you burst down my chamber door?" The King demanded and made to get up. However, he didn't get far as his strength left him about halfway upwards and he crumpled back down onto his bed. Regardless, his eyes never left Lloyd.

'Oh crap, oh crap, now what do I do?' The scrawny boy clawed for ideas, but came up with nothing. Exactly how did one explain breaking down a door to a Monarch who was being poisoned by the head of an ancient religious order?

'_If you do not know what to do, just wing it.'_

"I.. I apologize for the intrusion, Your Majesty, but this is a matter of grave urgency." Lloyd sank down onto one knee with his fist over his heart. "Life or death. Yours in fact." The others eyed him a moment, before swiftly following suit. The King, however, just looked confused.

"What are you playing at?" He inquired, the indignation in his tone having been replaced by unadulterated discomfiture. "Do you mean to kill me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Your Highness. We're here to rescue you." Zelos quickly stood up and approached. "You're being poisoned by the Pope and if you don't get the antidote soon, you'll be King dust."

The King's round eyes grew even more so.

"You're... no, it can't be. The... Chosen?" He gaped, aghast at the cheery cherub's stature. "But you're... but how did you-"

"In the slightly shorter flesh. How are you, aside from being poisoned and all?" Zelos brushed off his observation with a grin and a dramatic bow.

"The Chosen traitor has appeared once again... so you do mean my death." The King groaned and sank against the pillows. "To be felled by school children. This is certainly a new one."

Lloyd wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose. For a monarch in charge of an entire world, he sure was a drama queen.

"Your Highness, we mean you no harm and Zelos isn't a traitor." He continued, not moving an inch from his genuflective position. "We've come before you, and kinda... broke down your door, because we have the cure for your poison and we want to help."

"You should listen to what we've got to say, if you want to live past the end of the month, Your Highness." Sheena spoke up suddenly. "You're being poisoned by the Pope and the way the poison works is so you'll die a very slow and painful death."

"We'd be more than happy to assist you, Your Majesty, if you listen to what we have come to relay, and of course, to our terms." The professor added with a calm smile.

"What proof do you have of such an accusation? And your form... why has it diminished so?"

"Well, we have an unconscious Pope, an antidote, testimony, eyewitnesses, take your pick." Zelos shrugged. "And I don't know what happened. Nobody does." Biting back a sigh, Lloyd stood up and faced the King.

"Your Majesty, please. Just let us explain..."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Lloyd and company emerged from the royal chambers feeling exhausted and stretched thin, but nonetheless satisfied.

"Well... that coulda gone better." Genis flopped down on the carpeted floor of the hall leading to the western balcony. "But at least the King's not going to die."

"Mm. He did ingest the poison's antidote and the Pope has been outed as a traitor, plus I believe with that Zelos' status as a traitor, along with all of our wanted statuses, will be null and void." Presea agreed, joining him at the top of the stairs.

"I have to say, I'm quite impressed." The petite professor smiled slightly and turned to Lloyd, who lagged behind. "You handled that situation very well, despite having destroyed the King's front doors, and your address to the King was filled with quite a lot of passion."

Lloyd didn't reply. His mind was elsewhere, recounting what had transpired in those twenty minutes and trying to remember exactly what it was he'd said. He'd just sort of started talking and halfway through forgot where he was. At that point, he'd gone with the flow and let his instincts take him where he needed to go.

Apparently his instincts were very eloquent.

"That reminds me. Lloyd, where'd you learn to strategize like that?" Sheena tilted her head to the side and poked him in the arm to get his attention. "You usually go in swords blazing and hope for the best."

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked himself out of his thoughts. "Oh, it was in one of my military history lessons. Strategizing is key if you want to win with as few casualties as possible. Brute force only goes so far. There needs to be a certain amount of thought and cunning put into it. All warfare is based on deception, after all."

She stared at him.

"You have military history lessons?"

"Yeah. That's only one subject, though. Um.. let's see, there's that one, diction and etiquette, magitechnology basics, sword practice, astronomy and navigation, I think I'm gonna start learning how to read angelic, but I don't know when yet..."

"... what?" Lloyd frowned when he noticed all of his friends giving him a wary eye.

"You're... taking all that?" Genis goggled. "And you're getting it?"

"Yeah, what's so surprising about that?" Lloyd bristled. "Kratos said I'm smart enough to learn it and he's right. I'm soaking it up like a sponge. All of the course material's pretty interesting stuff and useful too. Didn't you see how well it worked back there?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"And the way Kratos' been teaching it, it's fascinating. All of the lessons are applied in some form to practically everything, they aren't boring and I can ask as many questions as I want. I wish school was like this-"

"Hey, Lloyd?" Zelos glanced over his shoulder and down the stairs. "Where _is_ the old man? I thought you said you came in with him."

Lloyd blanched. Kratos.

".. Oh no." He groaned. "I completely forgot. I left Kratos in the library and if he's finished doing his research and I'm not back, he's gonna start asking questions and then..."

Then he'd find out what Lloyd'd been up to all day.

"You'd better get going, then." Sheena patted him on the back. "It wouldn't be good if you lost your cover or worse, made him angry."

"I'll contact you guys later if I find something out." The scrawny swordsman rushed and, pivoting on his heel, darted down back towards the library as fast as he could. Hopefully he'd be quick enough to reach the doors before Kratos started his own investigation, or worse, gained some results.

* * *

Dinner back at the inn was a subdued affair. The lights in the sparse room were dimmed to save oil, and the fire built in the brick fireplace helped, but nothing of that nature would brighten Lloyd's mood. He just stared at his plate, pushing carrots back and forth, and sometimes glanced out the window. The sky outside was just as gray and unfeeling as the room inside, but that suited Lloyd just fine. He was too busy thinking about the hectic day he'd had to really care about the ambience.

His reunion with Kratos hadn't been the best, but at least the seraphim didn't ask too many questions why Lloyd had come crashing down the stairs and barreled into his legs. At the time, Lloyd had been out of breath to say much due to exhaustion from the whole dashing to the quarters of the King, incapacitating the guards and storming into the room by means of breaking the door down. Probably not the most polite way to enter a room, he thought about it in hind sight, but the past couldn't be helped. To be fair, once he was inside, he bowed on one knee and presented himself with all the rules Kratos had instilled in his head during those etiquette sessions.

The king was a little perturbed a six year old had kicked down his door, but the monarch in question didn't seem to be bothered with the door when he'd learned of the poison and gratefully took the antidote. And, when he reinstated Zelos as the head of the church for his hand in saving his life and declared the Pope along with the Papal knights enemies of the state, Lloyd was able to walk away feeling he made some headway with righting certain inequities. One set of enemies down, a whole raft to go.

When he finally found Kratos, who had indeed been walking the halls in search of him, h'ed greeted the seraph politely and that was pretty much all he'd said ever since.

Lloyd didn't feel like talking anyway. He'd had a really tough day and the last thing he wanted was to rehash what had occurred in that art gallery, especially not to Kratos. Had it been any other circumstance, he would have been buzzing around the elder seraph, asking questions and prodding him for answers about his wings. However, he hadn't taken long to realize if Kratos found out he'd conked out the Pope, bashed down the door to the King's personal quarters and convinced the knighthood the apocalypse was well on the way, he'd probably get fail him.

If not murder him.

"You're quiet this evening." Kratos' deep tones broke through the thick layer of tranquility and Lloyd jumped in surprise, spearing his bean in the process.

"Not a whole lot to talk about." The thin boy shrugged, tapping his fork against the side of the plate to shake the bean loose.

"A first for you, I take it." The seraphim commented loftily and glanced over the top of his book. "You aren't eating."

"Not hungry." Lloyd shrugged again. Kratos' russet eyes narrowed, but he didn't comment. Instead, he returned to his book, leaving Lloyd to his own thoughts. Lloyd would have been curious what he was reading, if he wasn't rushed with feelings of silent gratitude.

"Did you eat earlier?" He inquired quietly. Lloyd internally groaned and shook his head. Maybe he was grateful too soon. When was Kratos going to stop asking him questions and start being inscrutable again?

"Then you should at least try to eat your food."

Lloyd scowled and looked down at his dead vegetables.

"Alright, alright..." He muttered under his breath. "You're not my mother." If Kratos heard him, he didn't comment on that either, something else Lloyd was thankful for.

"You shouldn't have left the library." The seraph mused, turning a page of his book idly. "You missed quite a lot of excitement."

"I... I did?" Lloyd tried to look curious without letting his anxiety take over.

"Oh yes. Apparently there was the second coming of the Angel of Death. Quite spectacular, or so I heard."

Lloyd swallowed hard.

"... what else did you hear?"

"This and that. The king being poisoned by the Pope and has just placed an order for a new chamber door, the papal knights now locked in the dungeon, the regular knights in a state of full on hysteria." Kratos set down his book on the table and folded his arms across his chest whilst looking down the bridge of his nose at the nervous six year old.

"That reminds me... how did you enjoy your walk?"

Lloyd's blood ran cold.

"Uh... um..." His mind raced with ideas, but unfortunately none of them were slow enough for him to grab.

"And exactly how did you get that lovely cut above your eyebrow?" Kratos pointed at Lloyd's forehead. "Skipping were we?"

Lloyd remained silent. If he didn't admit to anything, Kratos couldn't truly prove he'd done anything wrong. Innocent until proven guilty, the little voice in the back of his head reminded him. He'd maintain his innocence until the bitter end.

"So, are you going to tell me, or do I have to force it out of you?"

On second thought, perhaps coming clean would be a better alternative.

"I.. It was an accident! I can explain!" He burst. The little voice in Lloyd's head sighed.

'Don't ever be caught. You'd be the biggest snitch ever.'

Kratos rested his chin in his palm and stared at him with expectant dread in his russet eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure you can."

Battening his nerves, Lloyd launched into a rushed and extremely censored version of the events of the afternoon. He knew there were some half truths to his summarization, but there was no sense in going into a ton of details that would only confuse, or in this case, incriminate him further. Kratos listened with a completely blank face, but the longer Lloyd went on, the more the little vein on the side of his temple twitched.

A bad omen.

The seraphim didn't move a centimeter until he mentioned how he got his cut above his eye.

"Repeat that again."

"Uh... okay." Lloyd nodded apprehensively. "What part?"

"The part where you were backhanded across the face."

"Oh, that part. I was backhanded across the face."

"... Afterwards, Lloyd. Why were you struck?" Kratos demanded. Lloyd shrank back under his unyielding gaze. He wasn't really sure why, but the instant he'd mentioned being hit, Kratos got... awfully scary. The kind of scary that wasn't unleashed, but more like it was being buried by years of self control and discipline.

"I fell over." He replied cautiously. "And they smacked me because I said the Pope was poisoning the king. They said it was blasphemy or something like it and whacked me one. Not very polite, but then again it was pretty mild compared to what they wanted to do with Genis and the Professor when they found out they were half elves in Sybak. But I got them back in the end."

"... and?" The seraph relaxed a bit, but didn't take his eyes off Lloyd.

"I laid there for a bit, sat up, and then I held my head because that really hurt. But... when I looked up, they were all staring at me because I wasn't sitting like I thought. I was..." Lloyd trailed off and pushed a carrot around a puddle of gravy.

"... floating."

"'Floating'?"

"Yeah."

"And just how did you accomplish this?"

Lloyd shot him a flat look.

"I swallowed a bunch of helium." He snapped.

"Ah, that would explain your voice, then."

"Hey!"

"Do not be flippant if you do not wish recompense."

"Fine... sorry. Anyway," Lloyd pulled at a piece of his hair out of his face, the one that had been caked in blood before he'd washed it out. "I dunno why, but my... angelly wings just showed up out of the blue right after I was smacked, but they did and before I knew what was going on, both knights were screaming in terror and Zelos went on this whole long speech about how the 'Angel of Death' had returned and they had to repent or something. I didn't have a clue what was going on, so I just kinda went with it."

"And how did you manage to pull that off?" Kratos raised an eyebrow. "You're not exactly why I would describe as intimidating while in your normal state, let alone in one of miniaturization."

"I'm way more intimidating than you give me credit, y'know." Lloyd scowled. "If you must know, I tried mimicking you when I was on the spot."

The seraphim's other eyebrow raised to join its twin.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. That and there was this terrifying painting in the gallery that helped me as a reference. I didn't use it as much as just mimicking you, but it was a helpful guide."

"And what was this painting depicting, exactly?"

Lloyd swallowed a carrot and mulled the portrait over in his mind.

"A middle aged man with broad shoulders, really black hair, a military uniform with a lot of medals and the reddest eyes I'd ever seen."

Kratos relaxed against the back of his chair, arms still folded against his chest and stared off into the ceiling, apparently lost in thought.

"... ah." He murmured, hints of humor in his tone. "I believe I know the painting. If you emulated that visage, no wonder you were believable as the 'Angel of Death'."

"I only used it as a slight reminder of someone." Lloyd smirked and swallowed another carrot. "Yeah. 'Angel of Death'. I heard about that a while back, but that's just a silly story..." He paused, suddenly ashen, and glanced up at the elder man.

"... right?"

Kratos smirked.

"I'll let you think what you will."

Lloyd didn't like the sound of that. It was far too enigmatic for his taste, but seeing as his tastes were currently employed in eating mushy carrots, perhaps his tastes were the ones in need of a tune up.

"So... I suppose I should go find that dictionary, huh?" He smiled sadly at his plate. Kratos watched him quizzically.

"What do you mean?"

"I failed, didn't I?" Lloyd sighed unhappily. "I made a huge mess of things, regardless of whether or not I meant to do so. You said if I could handle myself in a castle situation, I would pass, but let's face it. I didn't. So... I fail."

"I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you."

Lloyd's head shot up.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Kratos smirked again.

"Lloyd, while I will admit you were caught up in far more hijinks than you should have been, from what you have said and, more importantly, what I found out from the castle staff in their _unedited_ version-"

Lloyd grinned.

"- you were acting in such a way only because someone's life was in mortal peril. You did not go out of your way to cause trouble, but when faced with trouble, you acted, as opposed to merely letting it take further ground. In that sense, I am... impressed."

The thin boy across the table could barely believe what he was hearing.

"So, as a result, I have decided to let you advance. Mind you, for you to continue to learn new aspects, you will be also required to periodically demonstrate your mastered skills so you do not lose ground." Kratos pointed another finger at Lloyd. "But as a warning in the future, you are not to go breaking down the chamber doors of monarchs or impersonating fierce deities, or I will have you balance the entire encyclopedia set on your head until you are ninety. Are we clear?"

"... yes, sir." Lloyd nodded solemnly, but quickly broke out of it with a grin. "So, what's next on the agenda?"

"Next, I am going to relax and finish my book. YOU are going finish your milk and then get ready for sleep." Kratos replied as he thumbed through his novel to find his place. "You'll need your strength for tomorrow, anyway."

"Why? What's tomorrow?" Lloyd slid off his chair and pushed it in.

"Due to recent developments in your evolution, I believe it's time for you to learn the basics about aerial suspension."

"Language I could understand, please?"

"How to fly. Apparently, you need the training."

"Flying?" Lloyd repeated, his eyes wide as dinner plates. "You mean, with wings flying in the air?"

"Yes."

"Yes, yes, YES!" The six year old swordsman pumped a fist into the air and bounced about the room in excitement. He'd be able to fly, soar about the clouds, not have to worry about gravity. He'd be free to move anywhere, no matter how high. He should have taken the news with more dignity, but he didn't care. At that moment, he really did feel like a six year old. The instant he'd learned about his being an angel he'd been waiting for this moment and now that it was finally here, he couldn't even try to contain his enthusiasm.

Kratos, on the other hand, did not share his jubilant glee.

"Lloyd, curb your spasticity if you would. Remember, it is after dusk and if you are not careful, you might wake the other patrons of the Inn, along with the dead."

"Oh, er... eheh, sorry." Lloyd stopped bouncing about. " Anyway, flying! I can't wait!" Kratos nodded as a means of reply and went back to his book.

Lloyd wasted no time. Quickly, he rushed through his nightly routine, scaled the edge of the bed by the window and ran a hand through his hair like a makeshift comb. However, when faced with the prospect of rest, he wasn't all that sure he was going to be able to sleep, what with being so excited.

"Hey Kratos, are you gonna sleep?" Lloyd asked while he peeled back the bedclothes and slid inside. "I don't ever see you doing that much. Don't you get tired?"

"Probably not." The seraphim replied, flipping a page of his text. "And I only become fatigued depending on the amount of energy I exert. However, I generally do not exert enough energy in order to tire myself out."

"So, you can if you want to, but you don't?" The scrawny swordsman yawned.

"I don't usually have to, but occasionally I indulge. It's more of a lingering habit of mine than anything else."

"Oh... okay." Lloyd's eyelids began to droop. Maybe sleeping would be easier than he originally thought.

"Just get some rest, Lloyd."

Murmuring a goodnight, the smaller of the two nestled into the burrow of quilts he'd made for himself and yawned again. Despite his original perceptions about the seraphim being a sarcastic hard ass, Kratos could be kinda cool when he wanted to be.

"Oh, and Lloyd."

Lloyd peeked over the rim of the quilt.

"Next time you decide to use your angelic abilities to terrify the clergy, deepen your voice. It adds intimidation."

Lloyd's face flushed red and buried his face in his pillow. Or maybe he spoke too soon.

* * *

Raine flipped through yet another text and sighed. Still nothing. Feeling rather dejected, she sat the book back down on the library table and picked up another tome from her pile. There had to be something within the confines of these walls that would lead to a cure for Colette's illness, she just knew it. Thanks to the King's sudden recovery, he'd allowed them access, but even the best research resources in either world would be completely useless if she spent all her time looking in the wrong place. If she knew exactly which book to search, they'd all have been out of the castle's library hours ago.

Unfortunately, it seemed she was on her own at the moment. Everyone else had long since given in to their fatigue and laid strewn about the library in varying stages of consciousness. Raine snorted derisively at them all. She understood the mortal body had its limits and thus had to succumb some time or later, but it was only three in the morning. Surely their bodies weren't so weak they'd have given up so easily.

One very loud snore from Genis later, her suspicions were confirmed. They were indeed out for the count, leaving her as the sole researcher for any hint to cure Colette's condition. Raine couldn't exactly say she was all that surprised. They had been at it for hours and if she thought about it a second time, she was probably the only one stubborn enough to keep going. Raine shrugged. It was probably for the best they stay that way. She would get more work done if there were no lingering distractions, namely the endless bickering from Sheena and Zelos. The pair in question were propped against a nearby bookcase and slumped on each other's shoulders, both leaking conflicting degrees of snores. Raine snorted. It was amazing the only time they stopped poking and prodding at each other verbally and physically was when they were asleep and even then, they seemed to compete with their snores. Genis was in his own corner with a book for a pillow and for some weird reason was twitching like a dog chasing a ball. The pint sized professor couldn't catch sight of either Presea or Regal, but she figured in the end they were probably sleeping in the shadows.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Raine flipped over the page of her newest book and shook her head. It seemed she was the only adult left mentally and thus had to carry on. As she began to read, a wave of drowsiness washed over her face and made her groan. She was becoming exhausted as well in spite of herself. This would have been a lot easier if she had someone to talk to, if just to keep herself awake.

"Raine, might I borrow a moment of your time?"

The petite professor jumped in her leather armchair. She wasn't aware someone else was conscious, let alone in the mood for conversation.

"Regal?" She relaxed slightly at the sight of the blue haired boy. "What is it you wish to discuss?"

"Kratos, mostly." Regal replied and produced a mug of hot chocolate out of thin air. Raine visibly slumped, yet graciously took the mug. Out of all the topics at three AM, why did it have to be about _him_? "Why do you wish to discuss him?"

"Since I joined you all rather late, I know little about him and am rather curious. He seems to be a consistent presence regardless of where we go. What do you know about him?"

"Not much, if I was being perfectly frank." Raine shut her book and set it down beside her. "He rarely spoke, yet when he did, he always was knowledgeable about whatever topic he deigned to explore. At the time it seemed rather suspicious, but nothing more than that. Now that I know exactly what he was up to, the circumstances make complete sense. He always knew what to do when things became too dicey, but never said anything above cryptic answers when questioned on his knowledge. He was a plant of Cruxis' in order to make sure we didn't stray from the path of Regeneration."

"Exactly how did you come to know him?" The preteen dandy asked as he took up space in a nearby armchair.

"I wasn't the first among us to meet him formally. In a fray at the Temple of Martel near Iselia, Kratos rescued Lloyd, Genis and Colette from being killed at the hands of a then suspected Desian, who turned out to be a Renegade. By interfering and sparing them death, he gained their trust, along with the trust of the chief priestess, Phaidra. She then hired him to guard Colette during her journey to the Tower of Salvation."

"Hired? So he was a mercenary, then."

"He posed as one, at the very least. Whether he was or not at one point is up for debate, but he played his part incredibly well. One thing to know about Kratos is he's a skilled actor. He could lie his way in or out of anything and you'd never know." Raine paused to take a sip. "That in itself makes him all the more dangerous in my opinion. Even I was tricked by his charade. I thought there might have been more to him than he allowed anyone to see, but despite my reservations, I had no idea of what he was or what he would eventually do."

"Would I be correct in assuming that you do not particularly like Kratos?" Regal asked. Raine gripped her mug tightly.

"No, no particularly." She replied frostily. "After all he's been, all he's done, why on earth would I like him?"

"I thought as much. You did become awfully cold today after the mention of Kratos when Lloyd departed. That, and I've never seen you display any sort of emotion towards him besides distrust and scorn. Was it something Lloyd said about wishing school was like being with Kratos that hurt your feelings?"

Raine bristled at the thought.

"Don't be ridiculous." The pernicious professor retorted. "Lloyd was just being Lloyd. He's only a boy after all, and doesn't seem to realize when he's overstepped certain verbal snafus."

"Ah, so you're not jealous at all?"

"No. Besides, this isn't the first time he's done this sort of thing."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Raine took a sip from the mug and sighed. "When we were traveling during the original Journey of Regeneration, Lloyd and Kratos... became close, or at least Lloyd thought so."

Regal straightened somewhat.

"Kratos took a special interest in Lloyd?"

"As much as he did with anything, I suppose." She shrugged. "He said very little, but from what I could see, Lloyd's budding swordsmanship piqued an interest. Before anyone knew anything, Lloyd and he were skirting off to train."

"He and Lloyd were close..." The blue haired boy frowned. " I never knew that."

"At first they were like oil and water, but after a while Lloyd and Kratos really began to bond." Raine smiled at the memory. "I remember Genis telling me he was quite annoyed Lloyd spent all his time with Kratos during the downtime we had. We all noticed. When Lloyd had a question, he went to see Kratos. When Lloyd wanted to fight, he went to see Kratos. When Lloyd wanted to just talk to someone, he-"

"-went to see Kratos?" Regal prompted.

"Quite. He was very fond of Kratos and one didn't have to look hard to see why. He would help Lloyd's training, teach him things, and when Lloyd was upset, Kratos was the only one who was able to calm him down."

"That is strange, given his actual identity." The preteen mused offhandedly. "Why bother take a liking to Lloyd when he had such a different agenda?"

"To be honest... I don't really know." The professor sighed. "All I really remember is by the time we all arrived at Hima to go to the Tower of Salvation, Lloyd was regularly following him around like a loyal puppy. I think that's why Kratos' betrayal upset Lloyd so much. He'd never really had a human male to spend time with and Kratos, despite him not really being human, was the closest thing he'd had to a human role model. Lloyd was desperate to gain Kratos' approval and after he betrayed us, Lloyd was stricken with his confused emotions. Kratos' acting skills are superb after all. There was and still is much doubt over whether his relationship was genuine or merely staged. That factor perhaps contributed to Lloyd's devastation the most. He clearly felt lied to. What worries me is he's bound to fall into the exact same trap again, if he's not careful."

Raine took a sip of her drink.

"The boy's far too trusting. I don't know if Lloyd even knows what's happening again, but if he's betrayed a second time... it might destroy him."

"Then why did you suggest he accompany Kratos at the time of our departure from Iselia?"

"I honestly believed Lloyd would realize his mistake and not let his guard down so easily. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I should have realized how desperate Lloyd was for male companionship and what he would forgive for it. He has a big heart, but sometimes he employs it much more than his head."

"I see. Still, agreeing to supervise an adversary at such a disadvantage with no strings attached is a strange move to make. Why do all of that when such a betrayal is inevitable? It seems like a waste of effort."

"At the time I didn't think about it, but now... the whole circumstance does seem rather odd." The professor was forced to admit. "And things have become even more complicated now that we've all had our... accident, if you will. Kratos's involvement in this situation has left things unclear. I thought I knew at one point where everyone stood, but now... I just don't know."

Her last sentence hung in the air as the weight of it sank down on her shoulders. She didn't know what was different, but something was, something she couldn't put her finger on. And, to make matters worse, no matter how much she thought about it, Raine couldn't solve it, a problem she'd rarely encountered.

"Raine... before you dismiss what I am about to say, consider this for a moment." Regal finally broke the unsettling silence. "I have not travelled with Kratos at all, nor have I seen him amongst you all in a relaxed atmosphere, but might I venture an impartial third party point of view?"

"You might." Raine nodded warily.

"I've noticed the few times I've seen Kratos and Lloyd interact, there are certain similarities shared among them both."

"Similarities?" The professor straightened. "What sort of similarities?"

"They both have a certain air about them, an aura if you will. Also, their gestures can be very similar in various circumstances and after today with that debacle with the knights, Lloyd's interpretation of an 'Angel of Death' reminded me of the few times I'd seen Kratos. It was very uncanny. Also, when he spoke to the King, he gripped his sword just like Kratos did when he addressed Forcystus shortly before his death."

"Kratos was Lloyd's swordsmanship instructor, I could see where Lloyd could have picked up certain habits."

"Out of the sake of juxtaposition, have you perchance ever played with the notion there might be more to the pair of them than just facts?"

Raine frowned.

"I don't know what you mean."

Regal exhaled and ran a hand through his blue hair, as if trying to not groan in exasperation. Her frown deepened.

"I am trying to be delicate given the nature of the situation, but from an outsider standpoint, the pair of them share a great many characteristics, more than just a student and teacher. They both stand similarly. They both walk similarly. And... they're both of the angelic persuasion."

"I don't see how exactly that has anything to do with anything else. Yuan is an angel, as is Colette, yet they share only that trait with the pair of them."

"Yes, but if you recall, their wing patterns were vastly different. However, the wings that Kratos summoned at the Tower of Mana and the pair Lloyd materialized today were very close in appearance. The color was even in the same schematic. If I had to guess, I'd say that was a matter of mana composition than just preference."

"As with mana, they share a great many physical traits. The eye color and shape, the flow of the hair, the build, the facial shape. It's almost as if-"

"-They were related."

Both of them jolted in their seats. Presea stood in the doorway to the library, her freshly sharpened axe resting on her collarbone.

"Presea, what are you doing up at this hour?" Raine asked, but her question fell on deaf ears.

"So you held suspicions as well?" Regal bypassed Raine's budding interrogation and gestured for her to sit on a nearby cushion.

"Yes. I've held them for a while concerning Lloyd and Kratos." Presea sat down on the cushion and placed her axe by her side. "However, after what happened today, I am certain of it. They must share the same blood."

Regal remained thoughtful, but Raine didn't feel the same. If it hadn't been for her cool continence, she would have squawked at the mere notion of such a farce of an idea. Her well meant, yet naive student sharing the same genetics as that ice cube of a man with a penchant for mindless slaughter was too much to bear.

"What led you to draw such a conclusion?" She asked once her emotions calmed to the point of allowing her to speak without waking the library.

"They look alike, fight alike, act alike with little things, how they stand while stationary, their wings." Presea replied. "Also, despite being a supposed threat and emissary of Cruxis, Kratos seems... attached to Lloyd and vice versa. That's not natural for enemies."

Raine bit back a snort. Attachment could always be faked.

"Truthfully, I originally believed them to be related the first time I encountered Kratos with you." Regal added. "The likeness between them is very striking and even though Lloyd was outright hostile, it seemed more like interfamilial anger rather than real anger."

"Are you honestly suggesting that the pair of them are related in some fashion? That's ridiculous, even in the form of a brainstorm."

"I don't think so." Presea responded. "And I'm not suggesting. I am sure of it."

"It would explain why Kratos so readily accepted Lloyd's presence a second time. It also would explain why Lloyd was neither taken to Cruxis or harmed when found alone and wounded. As far as anyone has said, Kratos owed him no favor, yet he chose to act in Lloyd's best interest. No act would go that far, especially not if Kratos had already betrayed him once. He doesn't seem the sort to rack up people owing him life debts."

Raine wanted to argue. She wanted to stomp her feet and scream like she really was eight years old. Yet... she couldn't.

"I'm having a very hard time believing this." The tiny teacher shook her head.

"I'm not surprised. Have you ever heard the phrase 'they could not see the forest for the trees'? None of you can see the big picture because all of the little details surrounding the way. For both Presea and myself, we have no trees to distort what's apparent."

"What makes you so sure then?" Raine let her head fall into her hands. Despite her preconceptions about Kratos, this mismatched and completely nonsensical explanation behind his motivations...

... was making sense.

"I have no proof or evidence to support my claim, nor do I pretend to, but..." Presea traced a finger around the handle of her axe and looked wistfully at the blade. "When we were last in his presence at the Iselia ranch, I watched Kratos look at Lloyd. His expression was... softer than I'd seen it. Kind, but still stern, as if he didn't want to be noticed."

Raine tore her eyes away from her hands and shook her head. This was all just a coincidence, it had to be. That, or a really horrible dream. Maybe she'd fallen asleep at the books and would wake up any second now. One pinch later, she realized she was wide awake and cold hard reality slapped her in the face like the tail of a freshly caught fish.

"That can't be anything other than a coincidence." She murmured weakly, trying to grasp onto what she had firmly believed minutes ago as it slipped away.

"I don't believe in coincidences. Coincidences occur because people seldom wish to see things that may alter their perceptions of reality."

"If he is... _related_ to Lloyd," Raine practically choked on 'related', "What kind of relationship are we discussing? A brother, perhaps?"

"No." Presea shook her head. "I know that look too well and that's not a brother look he had. It's been a very long time since I saw it... but I'd know it anywhere."

"... it was Daddy's look. The one he used to give me or Alicia."

Raine stared at her like she'd sprouted a tail. Okay, she had to be dreaming. Pinch or no pinch. Kratos couldn't... most definitely not... no, just... no.

"That is out of the question." The Professor shook her head. "Kratos and Lloyd met outside the Martel temple in Iselia, not one minute before. Besides, Kratos is much too young to have fathered a teenager. He is only about twenty eight."

"Outside appearances may mask the truth." Presea interjected ruefully and pointed her two counterparts. "Actual age is a completely different matter."

"Presea makes a fair point. We don't know how angelic beings age, if they even do at all. He may be centuries old." Regal mused. "It is possible."

Accepting the idea Kratos being a relation to Lloyd was hard. Accepting the idea Kratos was Lloyd's father was impossible.

"You can't actually expect me to believe that he's Lloyd's blood father. That's ludicrous."

"It would explain Lloyd's dire reaction to his special exsphere and the evolution that followed. If he already had a predisposition to the angelic process via a direct link to an angel as a sire, perhaps that predisposition is what made the Angelus Project's yield successful. There had to be a special recipient as well as a special culture body for it to be a complete success." Regal continued as if he didn't hear her rebuke.

"Despite those lovely points of sophistry, that line of thinking brings up another point."The Professor replied stiffly. "One that makes me very certain Kratos couldn't be the father."

"What?" Both of them asked.

"As you just reminded me, Lloyd's mother was a prisoner inside the Asgard human ranch, which was a facility for growing exspheres in the name of the Desians, who answer to Cruxis. More specifically, she was used for the Angelus project, which as the pair of you know is a highly risky and dangerous experiment that eventually claims the life of the victim regardless of the success. Now, I ask you, why would a high ranking angel in the divine organization responsible for such crimes against sentient life be romantically or carnally inclined towards a test subject in the very same organization who carried an extremely valuable piece of research on her body that would eventually rob her of her humanity, be it her body or soul? It makes little sense." Raine sighed. "I believe that Lloyd's exsphere is solely to blame for his transformation. The aim of the Angelus project was to create an exsphere that could evolve into a Cruxis Crystal. Apparently it was more successful than we thought."

"Hm... it's an interesting notion, but I don't know." Regal thought aloud. "What do you make of it, Presea?"

"That does sound... fishy." Presea's youthful forehead bent down to cast a shadow in the lamplight. "But I still believe they are of the same blood. There is too much for it to be just a coincidence, which I don't believe truly exist, not here."

"There _are_ coincidences, but there's every chance-"

"There's every chance there is more to this story that we know." Regal interrupted. "However, I have every suspicion Kratos is hiding much more than he wishes to let on, and is in no hurry to regale anyone."

"Yuan might know something more." Presea suggested. "We should contact Colette so she can investigate. He seems to be an authority on knowing more than he should."

"We should do so in the morning though. Best not to arise suspicions by calling in the black of night. Speaking of which, it would be best if we rest for the night. Such topics weigh heavily on the mind and tax the body of energy." Regal yawned into his fist and stood from his chair. "If you'll excuse us, Professor. We've taken up too much of your research time as it is. There is no need to delay you." With a curt nod, he and Presea departed into opposite directions of the library for a good night's rest.

The Professor snorted. They'd be the only ones sleeping tonight.

Raine sat by herself in the lamplight, completely drained, yet unable to even think of sleep. After what she'd digested over the span of mere minutes, there was a feeling in the pit of her stomach she wouldn't get much in the way of sleep for a while. Setting down her empty mug, the professor glanced at her once fascinating tome on ancient diseases and sighed. Strangely, she had no interest in researching cures. Instead, she reached for a book on top of another pile entitled 'The Origin and History of Cruxis', flipped open the cover and began to pour through the documents. If she was going to think about... _that_, she would need a great deal of proof to prove them wrong, or worse...

... right.

* * *

Lloyd was dreaming. He could feel it. It was one those dreams where he knew he was dreaming, yet could still move around on his own. He loved those sort of dreams. Lloyd could do anything he wanted in the dreams he could control. Punch through a wall without getting in trouble, climb like a cat, or even fly. Though, he wouldn't need to dream about flying for very long, he grinned. The idea of flying lessons wouldn't leave his mind, even when he was out hard.

However, despite him knowing it was a dream, Lloyd couldn't help but feel a little displaced. Normally in these sorts of dreams, he'd have been right in the middle of something. He was the focus. However, in this one he felt... off to the side, perhaps? Another thing weird about the dream was it was in a color scheme of beiges, blacks and whites. He usually dreamt in color.

"Huh... strange." Lloyd scratched at the side of his head and looked around. He was standing on the top of a grassy hill, overlooking a flat grey field covered in summer high wheat. Or at least he suspected it was wheat. The lack of color didn't help.

Out of the corner of his eye, the cherubim spotted a blur of movement charge past him and barrel down the hill as fast as it could go. He jumped momentarily, and let his eyes swivel to the source of energy that rolled down the hill like a sausage. Lloyd gaped.

It was a little him. Probably about three from the looks of it, if the pair of little shoes was a hint. Lloyd had only ever seen the one shoe that Dirk had kept from when he'd been found, so he figured it had to be from then if the little Lloyd replica still had both. The instant his scrawny body hit the end of the hill, the teeny Lloyd was up again and running, but where from and where to, he wondered. Well, whatever the little Lloyd was going, he was grinning his head off, so Lloyd figured it was probably somewhere good. Curiosity getting the better of him, Lloyd jogged down the side of the hill and around the bend, intrigued to see just what had gotten the little him so excited.

On the far edge of the horizon were two smoky figures that Lloyd couldn't quite make out. They were both covered in a grayish haze so he couldn't get a really good look at them, but the smaller Lloyd waved emphatically and darted towards them as fast as he could. As the little Lloyd approached, the considerably taller figure bent down on one knee and held out his arms to catch him in a hug. The little Lloyd grinned wildly and leaped into the figure's grasp, letting out a squeal of delight at having been caught.

As the actual Lloyd grew closer, he stopped about halfway and watched the hazy figure ruffle the little Lloyd's hair. He couldn't help but smile and take a step back. The younger him looked so happy. He didn't want to interrupt, even if it was his dream. It just didn't seem right to do.

However, when he took a step back up the hill, the other figure, one much smaller than the first, turned its foggy face towards Lloyd and beckoned him over. Lloyd blinked. A shadow was waving him over. Last he checked, he wasn't familiar with any shadows, but the shadow seemed to know him, as it kept waving at him to approach.

When he didn't move, the figure prodded the taller one in the arm and pointed back at Lloyd. The kneeling one looked up at Lloyd, nodded once and also gestured for him to come over. Lloyd felt a little strange at the scene, having never made the acquaintance of shadows as far as his mind could remember, but nodded gingerly and began towards the blurry shadows of his dream.

The shadows seemed happy when he began to approach, and his little self waved at him and said something to the larger figure. Something that made Lloyd stop in his tracks and then speed up exponentially. But when he got about five steps from them, the monochrome world began to fade, the happy, beckoning trio disappearing into its depths. Lloyd made to chase after them, but the further he ran, the darker and farther away things became. He kept on running, but eventually things became so dark, so thick with ashes and smoke, he could barely see or breathe.

Then, out of the thick smog came a scream of agony... and a cold, heartless laugh.

Lloyd sat bolt upright, his face covered with sweat. His eyes quickly darted from side to side, but found himself alone in the room of the Inn. Kratos must've stepped out. He let out a breath and collapsed back on the mattress.

What a nightmare. It'd started out so nice, how did it get so creepy so fast? And for that matter, what the hell did it mean? Lloyd rubbed some sweat off his face with his arm. The Professor had said a while back dreams were sometimes the subconscious trying to tell him something, but what was that trying to say? 'Never sleep again'?

'Get a grip, Lloyd.' Lloyd shook his head and flipped over. The dream had just rattled him a bit, nothing more. Besides, he couldn't go out flying on no sleep. He'd just have to ignore it and then maybe he'd forget by tomorrow morning.

As he started lulling back to sleep, Lloyd found himself remembering less and less of the dream. All he remembered really was the very last thing he'd heard the younger him say before it all faded into darkness.

"_... Daddy_."

* * *

**Hoorah, one more done. So, before I head out, I do have some ToS news on the Animation. Apparently, the producers found they couldn't put the whole rest of the ending into one final episode, so they decided to make two final episodes instead. Woo! They're scheduled, and I say that with a lengthy amount of scrutiny, to come out on June 20th and July 25th, so keep an eye out for those.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!**


	28. The Age of Flight

**AN: ... I know, It's been a while since I've updated. Long story short, life got crazy busy and editing takes way longer than it should. Anyway, thank you to all who favorited, alerted, did a combo of the aforementioned and a special thanks to I'm Sexy, KF2104, Supermangas92, LeaStar, Link Fangirl01, kuroXIII, Kiomori, Skye96, Mizu Hoseki, TearyBlueMoon twice, 5, chronos-girl, azure blue espeon, Kisa167, Cristle and Plushiepaw for reviewing. I'm happy to announce I've added you all to my word processing dictionary, so I don't have to look at all the squiggly lines whenever I type them. All those lines did was end up making me neurotic, but I digress. Also, we are on the precipice of the end of the ToS animation, so there is that. (SPOILERS) I do have to say I was rather disappointed at the grievous lack of Oyako and no fight at the origin seal in the previous episode. That was a let down, to be honest. Still, we have one more episode so I'm still holding out with a smidgen of hope that there will be some oyako. And if not... **

**... well, we'll get to that later.**

**I still don't own ToS or any of the characters manipulated below. There is truth in my words, for if I did, I wouldn't have disappointed myself, now would I?**

Chapter Twenty Eight: The Age of Flight

Zelos was in a very foul mood. For the past three days, he'd gotten very little in the way of sleep, and as things seemed to stand at that point, any change for the better didn't seem to linger in the horizon, literal or metaphorical. While the scarlet haired seven year old had enjoyed the night life to his heart's content when he'd been his former glorious self, getting dragged out of bed at a ghastly hour in the morning when he didn't have any cavorting to do was not in his top ten list. And, since the last time he'd gone a cavorting had been when he'd been living it up as a fully grown and fancy free adult and not traipsing all over the worlds with the band of would be rebels who'd dragooned him into their ranks, being awake at three in the morning did not sweeten his mood.

The glare of the moon burned brightly into his eyes and he squinted, trying to stave off the intrusive beams that coated the streets he meandered through. Zelos swore under his breath and rounded the corner. About ten minutes prior, he'd been rudely awakened in his manor by an infernal beeping through a comlink in his trench coat pocket. The chosen casanova had pitched a pillow at it, but the piece of magitechnological hell incarnate kept beeping away. Only after he dragged himself from his warm bed, crossed the room and stuck a hand into the coat pocket did he realize exactly which comlink had gone off. Out of all of them, that one in particular had to be the one that went off. It figured.

Rubbing at the circles he suspected were under his eyes, Zelos slinked into another corner and glared sharply at the harpy who had been the one to summon him to the corner of a dark alley at such a Martel awful time of night.

"I'm here, what do you want?" He demanded crankily as he stepped into a shrouded alley. "You do know its nighttime for most people. I know you like to hide behind archeological layers of makeup and rouge, but some of us need our beauty sleep."

"Lovely as ever to see you too, Chosen." Pronyma stepped into the moonlight, blocking out the light so the only illumination was the stray lamppost at the corner.

"So why'd you want me out here?" The stunted cherub folded his arms behind his head and cocked his head at an angle. "Did you want to show off your brand new street corner? And to think you actually listened to my suggestions."

"I have orders from Lord Yggdrasill to debrief you and you will comply, if you want to be allowed to go back to bed."

Zelos smirked.

"You can debrief me anytime." He winked at her. "Though, I should warn you. I don't wear briefs."

"Come back when you hit puberty." Pronyma sniped back. "It has become known to my lord that Lloyd is no longer traveling amongst you. Where is he precisely?"

"Why do you need to know?" Zelos looked her up and down with a scathing stare. "Last I looked, no one was planning on stashing an old soul inside his corpse."

"Lord Yggdrasill must be aware of his enemy's whereabouts at all times for security measures. Why else do you think you would be implemented?"

"Besides to annoy me?" The second grade swordsman shrugged. "If you've got to know, he's with the old man, Kratos. Something about learning more about him and finding a weak point or something, he didn't specify. Dunno why or what he's got up his sleeve though. That's all I've got."

Pronyma's features darkened, though the shroud of night managed to mask some of the expression before she quickly wiped it from her face.

"I see. How... enlightening. What else have you learned, Chosen?"

"Well, not really much to be honest. Colette's still pretty sick and they're trying to take you all down and everything. Guess they don't know when to quit. Kinda commendable, if you're stupid, that is. Oh, and everyone's getting kinda edgy. Colette's keeping something from everyone else and insists there's nothing to know, and the Professor, Presea and Regal are really keeping their guard up. They've been talking about something in secret, and when Pancake and I tried talking to them earlier, they totally blew us off. Same with the short man."

Pronyma's drawn on eyebrows actually moved upwards in surprise, an expression Zelos wasn't originally sure she was capable of expressing in the first place.

"You all are... at odds?"

"I dunno about that, but it's not exactly sunshine and daisies, if that's what you're asking. People are hiding secrets and nobody's talking, but I don't know if I'm the only person who's noticed this. Maybe it's just me, but there something going on and hell if I know what. And believe me, I've been trying to find out. Whatever they think they're on to, they're not telling and they're keeping everything under wraps. It's really honking off the walking sidewalk."

"Who?"

"Sheena."

"Ah. Anything else you wish to add?" Pronyma folded her arms against her ample bosom.

"Not really." The cherubim chosen scratched at his cheek. "There's not a whole lot to tell other than that. We're doing what you said he wanted and are going around looking for the cure to Colette's funky cold, so there's that."

"So the Chosen's illness has been diagnosed?"

"Yeah, didn't you hear?" Zelos arched one sardonic, yet carefully manicured eyebrow. "Nice of old jumpsuit to keep you up to speed. Anyway, we're heading to Altamira for the first ingredient. Should take us a while to get there, even with the rheairds, so be a dear and don't show up, mmkay? You don't exactly fit in with the local color, you get me?"

The harpy of a harlot desperately looked like she wanted to retort with an even more scathing reply, but Zelos knew she knew he was right. A get up like hers right in the middle of a tourist attraction would be anything but conspicuous and if any passerby mentioned even the slightest hint that she was nearby, the rest of the group would bolt like a spooked gaggle of neurotic geese.

"... fine. However, I'll be keeping in touch." Pronyma glowered down at him. "Don't think I won't be keeping an eye on you."

"Oh, I wouldn't dare get my hopes up." The cherub of a chosen yawned into his fist and walked away, waving lazily over his shoulder. It was almost pathetic how easy she was to rile up. He didn't even have to try, not really. Halfway around the corner, Zelos stopped his lackadaisical cadence and listened for stiletto heels clicking on the cobblestones. Nothing caught his ears. So she'd taken her leave then and wasn't trotting after him in an effort to catch him in an unsavory position. How wise of her, and how fortunate for him.

The short second grade swordsman sighed and ran his hands over his bleary eyed face. Wandering about the town in a sleep deprived haze, answering to multiple comlinks in the middle of the bloody night, being at the caller's beck and call when summoned, when told 'jump', having to answer with 'how high', all for the sake of _freedom_. His eye twitched. The irony was just sickening.

Groaning, Zelos shoved his hands into his pockets and began his long trek back to his mansion, all the while trying not to fall into a stray wall should his balance decide to fail.

"Y'know, I'm starting to wonder if this whole triple agent thing is worth all this trouble."

* * *

Lloyd peered down into the watery depths of the fountain at the base of the second floor of Meltokio and glared at it. There wasn't anything too horrible about the fountain in question, but he wasn't looking at that per say. Lloyd was much more preoccupied scrutinizing his reflection in the water. However, despite his sour expression at himself, there wasn't anything too particularly awful about it either. By all accounts, he didn't look terrible, two eyes, one nose, a healed cut over his eyebrow and no missing teeth. All and all, Lloyd appeared to be a fully healthy first grader. Still, regardless of his healthy visage, he continued to stare unfeelingly into the water, waiting for a ripple to show him a vision of the days yet to come.

Yet try as he might, no vision or spark of revelation struck his senses. Sighing with no luck whatsoever, Lloyd rested his forearms on the fountain's slick edge and pulled at a piece of hair that drifted over his nose.

'I'm just being a giant dork.' He let his eyes sink back down to his depressed looking reflection. 'They look fine. I shouldn't even be bothering to look.' Ever since he'd woken up that morning, the bantam boy kept finding himself staring into anything with a reflective surface and observing his face with more effort than he probably had done in all his seventeen years on the planet. He'd never thought of himself as a vain individual, but the more he stared at himself in the fountain, the more Lloyd realized he had the potential to rival Zelos if he kept it up. Lloyd snorted and pulled his gaze away from the water.

Yeah, well, at least he had a good reason for being a little concerned. Zelos was just being stupid. HE didn't have to be worried about... _them_.

Lloyd suddenly shook his head and growled. When had he ever been this concerned about his appearance before? He wasn't that shallow. Never had been and never would be. Yet, if that was the case, why did he constantly find himself gaping at anything with enough shine to show him his face? Snorting angrily, Lloyd smacked the water so his visage disappeared in a rush of ripples and tucked his face into the crook of his arm.

All morning he'd been obsessing over his visions that occurred in the night, but he more than anyone else should have realized that that was all they were; visions, illusions and dreams. The images that had played through his mind the night before were just weird concoctions of his own imagination. It's not like they were really real...

... right?

Turning, Lloyd sat down on the edge of the fountain, folded his arms against his chest and sank his head down in thought. Last night he'd had a nightmare, not the worst he'd ever had mind, but certainly one to make an impression. Despite his efforts to forget his terrible dream, Lloyd hadn't been able to do so. The images of the two shades dissolving into the inky vision, followed by a horrifying scream, were enough to send a grown man into a panicked frenzy, let alone a teenaged boy turned first grade kid with the weight of the world balanced precariously on his prepubescent shoulders. Still, after all he'd seen ever since he'd started the world regeneration journey, a little thing like a silly nightmare shouldn't have been enough to keep him up at night.

Why this one was an exception he had no idea.

No, that wasn't quite right. Lloyd had a very good idea why the dream had stuck with him so violently. The screams at the end of it had done the job, there was no denying it. A sound that summed up all the utter, optimizing agony that could be endured and suffered by any sort of sentient being wasn't one to be forgotten or ignored.

Still, he knew that if he'd stopped dreaming at that point during his sleep cycle, he never would have gone back to sleep, so Lloyd had steeled himself and forced himself back to sleep. However, while the dream from before was no longer the main focus, another had drifted through his mind. One that inadvertently had been the cause for him to stare at any sort of reflection he could find.

The second dream had been equally as hazy as the first, with shadows and blinding light blocking any semblance of a proper view, but the content Lloyd could recall as plain as day. Apparently, in the dream or vision or whatever it had been, Lloyd's mother -he figured it had been his mom- had been outraged when Lloyd had received a haircut courtesy of someone who could not have been mistaken by anyone other than his father and had proceeded to give him one hell of an earful for it. According to her, his hair had been cut at a weird angle and 'was so short, his ears stuck out like dinner plates' and 'how could he -Lloyd suspected his Dad- have done like that to her precious baby?'.

Dinner plates. she'd said. Lloyd yanked at one of his ears uncomfortably. They weren't that bad, were they? Glancing down at the water again, Lloyd groaned and tugged sharply at the rim of his left ear. Yes, yes they were. They were round, large and very much in charge. In fact, if he was of the dramatic sort, Lloyd would have even gone far enough to say that they were the showcased feature of his face, a fact he found to be rather unsettling. He didn't want the first thing people found striking about him to be the birds perched precariously on his ears.

Sighing a tad, Lloyd groaned into his hands. He knew he shouldn't put so much stock in something he wasn't sure was real or not, and it had been a hazy memory at best, but that part was so vivid, so real, the scene didn't feel like it had been one he'd made up out of the crevices and dregs of his memories.

Lloyd faced the fountain once more and peered into the depths.

"... my ears really DO stick out." He tugged at his ear again and sank against the fountain miserably. Why hadn't he noticed before? Lloyd knew he wasn't the most observant of people at the best of times, but you'd think at some point in his life, he'd have caught sight of the large serving platters attached to his head-

"Lloyd."

"Huh?" Lloyd tore his eyes away from the stagnant water to see Kratos standing at his side, sword at his hip and stern glint in his eye.

"I've made the final preparations for our departure. Let's go." Kratos pointed lacklusterly towards the stairs and started towards them, regardless of whether or not Lloyd was in tow. Shrugging, Lloyd quickly got to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Okay." He nodded and trotted after Kratos' lengthy gait. "Hey Kratos? Can I ask you something?" Kratos sighed.

"Something tells me you will regardless of my answer."

"You DO know me, don't you?" Lloyd grinned, but quickly became somber when he remembered the dreaded topic of the day. "Do my ears stick out?"

Kratos screeched to such a sudden halt, Lloyd almost ran into him.

"... what?" The elder seraphim inquired, his expression blank and mildly shocked. Lloyd yanked on his ears.

"Do my ears stick out? Be honest."

"I..." Kratos cleared his throat uncomfortably. "...I suppose they do... a little."

"They do?" Lloyd's shoulders slumped and he gazed into a nearby puddle. "Hm... maybe I should grow my hair out. That'd cover them up, right? What do you think?" Despite his view span focused on the puddle, the silence filling the air around him gave the distinct impression that Kratos was staring at the stern of his head like he'd decided to sprout a nose out the back. Lloyd looked up. Sure enough, his initial hypothesis had not been incorrect.

"... I loathe to ask, but what brought this up?" The seraphim swordsman asked apprehensively. "And since when have you been concerned about your appearance? I distinctly remember your teacher having to manhandle you into attempting to comb your hair."

"I only refused because every time I tried to comb it, all the tines in the comb would break off in my hair and I'd been pulling out comb bits for weeks." Lloyd protested halfheartedly. "And the reason I was worried -well, not worried, exactly. Maybe just a little self conscious- wasn't because of that. Do you remember when you said sometimes things that we've forgotten come back?"

Kratos nodded.

"Alright, don't think I'm crazy, but last night I think I remembered something. Something from a long time ago and... I think my parents were in it."

The elder seraph's eyebrows shot towards the sky.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it had something to do with a haircut that I got from my Dad and apparently my Mom didn't approve." Lloyd added. "She said my ears stuck out. Like dinner plates, she said. And... after looking at myself all morning, I can't say I disagree. Why my Dad did that to me, I don't know."

"... ah."

"Anyway, the more I got to thinking about it, the more I think I should grow my hair out." Lloyd pulled the rogue strand of hair that tickled his nose straight out and let it go, so the piece of hair sprung back into place. "And that got me to thinking... what if I've had the same haircut she didn't like this whole time? How embarrassing would that be to find out the haircut I thought she'd given me had been one she'd hated? What a way to honor somebody's memory. _'Hey, I have that haircut you didn't like and I'll remember you every time I look in the mirror and see the haircut you disapproved of'_."

"Do you like it?"

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked. "Uh.. I didn't really care all that much, but-"

"If you like it, then you should be free to make your own decisions." Kratos replied coolly. "But.. if you find it bothers you to... how did you say it -have ears the size of dinner plates- then it would suit you to grow out your hair and use it as a shield of sorts so the world won't see them."

Lloyd's head caulked at a curious tilt.

"You mean sort of like how yours grows?"

Kratos' eyes narrowed dangerously.

"... what are you implying?"

"Nothing!" Lloyd frantically waved his hand up and down, though that did very little to assuage the mutinous expression mounting on the seraph's visage. "Nothing. I was just asking if that was what you meant when you said growing out hair and stuff. I didn't say YOU had big ears. Yeesh, don't be so touchy." Rolling his eyes at Kratos' defensiveness, which he couldn't for the life of him fathom why he'd suddenly become cranky.. -er, Lloyd returned his interest back down at the puddle by the stairs.

"Well... my ears do get cold sometimes. Best just deal with it and grow my hair out. That'll hide my ears too. Too birds, one stone and all that." In winter, Lloyd had always complained about how his ears were always colder than the rest of him, and that one time when he was ten he almost got frostbite on one, so perhaps growing out his hair wouldn't be so bad anyway. Once the hair was long enough, that would solve both his issues with appearance and the risk of frostbite. Camouflaging them was really the only sensible option Lloyd had. He couldn't very well hack of his ears, now could he? Hearing was much more important than vanity and besides, if a little hair could solve the problem in the long run, how much of a problem was it really?

Kratos was right. In this instance, being practical was the best way to go, regardless of whether or not that initially trumped his instincts. The hair would just have to grow.

"Hey, there sure are a lot of guards out today." Lloyd pointed to the platoon of knights stationed at the front gate when he touched down on the bottom floor. "Wonder what they're guarding."

"I don't want to risk getting too close to find out." Kratos replied coldly, hand ever fastened to the hilt of his sword. "We'll have to go into the sewer."

"Why the secrecy? I thought you said if we ran into any sort of resistance, we'd have to fight our way through."

"And start an all out riot in the middle of the most populated city in Tethe'alla? Contemplate the results of a en masse panic. There would be stampedes of panicked people rushing about the town and you've not lived until you have seen the remains of a freshly trampled victim-"

"Okay, okay, I get it already. Spare me the details." Lloyd interrupted, a shudder flailing down his spine. He didn't doubt Kratos' knowledge of what a julianne corpse looked like, but he didn't really need the visual treat.

When they reached the entrance to said sewer and Kratos pried out the manhole cover, Lloyd stuck his head down the pipe and quickly retrieved it. He wanted to retch. There was something down there. Something that smelled unbelievably foul. And that was compared to how it normally reeked.

"Down there smells nastier than usual." Lloyd reported with a grotesque face. "Like somebody left out some nasty rotted hamburger in the sun for ten days." Frowning, the elder seraph joined his charge in observing over the top of the sewer entrance and drew back, expression just as repulsed as Lloyd's had been. Lloyd snickered. Even Kratos couldn't fend off a grossed out face when up against such a bad stink.

"Stay here." Kratos told Lloyd and climbed down the sewer. Lloyd watched him go until the darkness swallowed him up and sat by the edge. He didn't know how long the seraphim took before he quickly climbed back up the rungs of the ladder and slammed the manhole cover back into place, but it couldn't have been more than two minutes tops.

"Kratos?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the elder man. "Why'd you cover the sewer lid? You just said we were going to go through the sewers to get out of here. We can't very well do that if the lid is back on." Kratos didn't answer immediately. Instead he took a very deep breath and glanced at Lloyd from the corner of his eye.

"... I'm going to revise my previous statement. We'll take the back exit instead."

Lloyd blinked.

"What? Why?"

"Do you remember what I said when I mentioned the trampled remains of a freshly stampeded victim?"

"Yeah."

Kratos looked over his shoulder at the manhole cover.

"I believe I may have just stumbled upon a prime specimen to prove my point."

Lloyd's eyes fell upon the manhole cover with utter repugnance and he stared at Kratos.

"You mean... that gross smelling pile of hamburger is-"

"-WAS, yes."

"... ew."

* * *

Blond hair fluttering behind her, Colette flounced down the hall in a flurry, hand clutched over the comlink she'd been assigned before parting company with the friends. Despite her usual cheerful countenance, her face had drawn into an irritated pout and she frowned unhappily at the device as she ran. Prior to the darn thing going off, she'd been in the midst of finishing up her puppet version of the Goddess Martel with the assistance of Yuan, but just as she was about to sew the last eye, her pocket had buzzed with an incoming call. After she expeditiously excused herself to the facilities, Colette ducked into an alcove, removed all trace that she'd ever been annoyed from her outward behavioral display and flicked the comlink on.

"Hello?" She whispered into the microphone. "Guys? Is that you?"

"Hello Colette." came a flat affected tone through the receiver. "This is Presea. How are you?"

Colette visibly relaxed. Presea wouldn't be the one calling if there was an emergency. Likely that role would have been reserved for either Genis or Zelos, who would then be shrieking bloody murder while explosions sounded off in the background.

"I'm great, thanks for asking." She replied blithely. "How are you?"

"I am performing adequately. However, while I am contented you are also at optimum efficiency, this call is not merely to exchange menial pleasantries. There is a task we must ask of you that is of the most delicate nature-"

"-Presea, how about I handle that." There was some shuffling on the other side of the connection. "Hello Colette, this is the Professor."

"Hi, Professor, how are you?" Colette repeated the same question. "Doing well?"

"Fine, thank you. Colette, we need you to do us a favor."

"What kind of favor?" The blonde lilted her head in interest. "What can I do?"

"We need you to interrogate Yuan for us about something to do with Kratos."

Colette's face ran pale like marble.

"... o-oh? What about?" She asked, trying to keep the sudden shakiness out of her voice and failing miserably.

"We need to know whether or not... Kratos has ever had..." The professor cleared her throat. "...intimate relations with a companion, most specifically a female one."

"What do you mean? You mean like a best friend?"

"No, closer than that."

"Oh, you mean an imaginary friend? I used to have one of them, his name was Bosco-"

"No, no, you misunderstand. We need you to ask Yuan if Kratos has or has had... a family." The Professor sighed in what seemed to be a very pedantic fashion. "You know, more than just parents. Like... offspring or..."

Colette suddenly found herself incredibly grateful that she was not in their presence in any other sense but her voice. None of her friends could see the sheer look of panic gracing her face that way. Swallowing hard and trying to keep a steady head, Colette held onto the comlink with both hands and tried to stop them from shaking.

"What's this about?" She inquired quietly. "Why do you want me to ask Yuan about Mister Kratos' personal life? What are you looking for exactly so that I might be able to be specific?"

There was silence on the other side of the line.

"... nothing really important. We just need to get to know the enemy." Raine finally replied. "And... if we do know more about Kratos' personal life, perhaps we can find a weakness to exploit."

"... like family?"

"Yes, that's one angle."

"Well, uh... then you're in luck. I already asked Yuan." Colette replied as fast as she could muster. "He said that he didn't know anything about that sort of thing."

The Professor snorted and the bantam blonde could practically see her eyes rolling by sheer snort alone.

"Of course he'd say that." Raine retorted impatiently. "You need to dig deeper-"

"Oh, I did. I asked him if he was sure he didn't know anything about that and he said that if he found out anything about Mister Kratos, he'd let us know. He's got no reason to hide anything about Mister Kratos, after all."

Another exasperated sigh sounded through the receiver. Apparently Colette's efforts to cease the Professor's nagging had worked to a certain degree, though whether or not she had permanently stopped them or merely abated them temporarily was anyone's guess. Regardless, if the poignant expulsion of breath was anything to go by, the professor had lost what patience she'd had and resigned herself to the fact that no matter what she said, Colette was going to continue insisting Yuan knew nothing. Which of course was true, if Colette had anything to say about it.

"Well, just keep at it and I'm sure you'll get somewhere eventually." The Professor's voice droned out of the speaker. "You seem to have charmed him somewhat."

Colette stared at the comlink.

"Ch-charmed him?" She repeated incredulously. "Oh, I don't think I did that. He's just really nice when given a chance-"

"Just keep trying anyway. And when, not if, you find anything out, let us know."

"I'll try, but I don't think I'll get anything else from him. Talk to you later then." Colette cut the connection between the links and sank against the concrete wall of the alcove. She sniffed deeply and shook her head that rested in between her legs, trying to keep her adrenaline from rebounding in the form of hysterics.

"... I'm sorry, everyone." She murmured, guilt riddling through her body in the form of dry sobs. "But I promised not to tell. I promised Mister Kratos I wouldn't tell. I don't break promises." Colette hadn't wanted to lie to her friends. She never wanted to do so if she could avoid it. However, the way circumstances were, she couldn't tell them the truth. If any of them found out Lloyd was related to Mister Kratos and they wanted a way to get to Mister Kratos through a side door, Lloyd would be their best shot. Even if they were her friends, she didn't think she could let them do it, use Lloyd as a weapon. Not that they would if they found out Lloyd was their key to exploit Mister Kratos, but regardless, she couldn't take that chance.

Colette wasn't sure how Lloyd would react to being related to Mister Kratos, but if he found out in a way that involved him as leverage against Mister Kratos in some form, there wasn't a chance he would take it well. He'd probably see them as using him and Colette didn't want Lloyd to ever think so badly of his friends.

Besides, she'd already made a promise to Mister Kratos she wouldn't tell or interfere. She'd made a sworn promise to keep his confidence and if that meant lying to her friends in order to keep it, that was the price she had to pay.

Lying in order to keep a promise. That wasn't really lying, was it?

Swallowing hard, Colette got to her feet and brushed her cheeks with her hands. She couldn't stay in the corner wallowing like a little kid. She had company to attend to and a puppet to finish. Taking in a deep breath, Colette banished her uncomfortable and misery stricken face and stepped out of the alcove just as fresh faced as she'd been upon entering.

When she returned to the Renegade leader's office and stepped through the door, Yuan looked up from the desk where the Martel puppet sat waiting for its eye exam and nodded to her in greeting.

"You certainly were gone a while." He noted. "What took you so long?"

Colette trotted over to the desk, clamored onto her chair and picked up the Martel puppet and the threaded needle.

"... oh," She stuck the needle into the face of the puppet. "Nothing really important."

* * *

Kratos scanned the expansive field in front of his eyes and found himself satisfied for the first time that day. It had taken him a while to find such a field, nearly three hours of flying around with a backseat flyer attached to his shoulders, but after he'd passed by some farms, Kratos found a perfect grassy field just outside the last farm's outskirts, past a vast cornfield. He couldn't have asked for a better location. There were very little in the way of people around to witness any sort of abnormal phenomena, and the field held plenty in the way of space so maneuvering around wouldn't be an issue either. This field would be perfect for going over the basics of angelic flight with as little hindrances as possible.

However, that would only _be_ possible if his pupil decided to stop dragging his little heels and get over there so they could begin.

"Lloyd, kindly stop terrorizing the geese and get over here before I cast judgment on you right here and now." He called to his son, who had found a flock of geese and had taken to herding the gaggle up and down the field.

"Sorry." Lloyd bid farewell to the geese he'd been chasing and trotted over to Kratos, a few feathers in his hair and a winded grin plastered on his face.

"Lloyd, you make look six, but in reality you are seventeen years of age. Why were you chasing the geese?" The seraphim swordsman interrogated disapprovingly. Lloyd just grinned at him.

"I know I'm not supposed to, but I couldn't help it. I like geese."

"I figured as much. Whether or not the geese like you is a different matter." He folded his arms against his chest. "Leave them alone before they attack you."

Lloyd paled.

"Geese ATTACK people?"

"Yes." Kratos nodded. "You've never heard of attack geese? They are quite aggressive, second only to swans, and have no qualms when it comes to attacking any perceived threat."

"Wait, second to swans?" Lloyd asked incredulously. "You mean swans are mean too? But I thought they were supposed to be majestic and graceful, like in that one ballet. So that ballet is wrong?"

"Not necessarily." Kratos replied. "You obviously have never crossed swords with a thwarted prima ballerina."

"I won't." The smaller of the two shuddered and rubbed at his arm in an effort to warm himself. Sniffing slightly, Lloyd peered around their newfound surroundings and became increasing fidgety when the listless air of tranquility reigned down on him.

"So... field." Lloyd murmured in an effort to kill the quiet.

"Yes, field." Kratos nodded.

"Why the field?"

"Have you really forgotten that quickly?" Kratos raised one very exacerbated eyebrow. Lloyd blinked.

"Forgotten what?"

The elder seraphim drew in a pained breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't usually swear much, for he believed profanity to be the linguistic crutch of the inarticulate, but one thing he swore was that Lloyd had the attention span of a cookie.

"Your... oh, never mind."

"What?"

"Flying lessons."

"Oh... OH!" Lloyd's russet eyes lit up as the memory came careening back to his swiss cheese steel trap of a mind. "Right, flying lessons, sorry I just-"

"Forgot?" Kratos offered as his left cheek twitched ever so minutely. Lloyd rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly at the elder swordsman.

"... er... yeah."

A snickerdoodle with extra sugar. Maybe a touch of cinnamon.

"Summon your wings and we will get started." Kratos shook his head burdensomely and walked towards the center of the field. Lloyd ran after him in a bouncy trot.

"Kratos, I would, but I'm not sure how. I mean, the few times it's happened, I couldn't control it and I almost floated out the window the last time. Just how am I supposed to-"

"First, stop thinking you can't. That is a self fulfilling prophecy." Kratos interrupted tersely. "Second, stop talking. Third, start thinking about summoning your wings. Apply all your willpower and attention into summoning them and visualize the mana protruding from your back."

Lloyd quickly shut up, to Kratos' grateful ears, and closed his eyes. After a good five minutes of willing himself to near death, cerulean tendrils of mana sprang forth from the slight six year old's back and lifted him so he hovered perhaps a foot from the ground.

"Very good." Kratos said appraising. "Staying stationary while hovering is the first step, and I can see you are proficient in that regard. However, very rarely will you just be hovering directly above the ground. There is usually no need for doing so, as many angels simply prefer to walk. When you do have your wings out, generally that will be when you are high above in the air, probably in crux between the upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere. The second step for your development will thus be practicing hovering where the oxygen is weaker, to give your body a chance to adjust and prepare for any potential altercations-" He stopped. Lloyd was strangely quiet. Normally he'd never have gotten that far without at least one interruption.

Kratos looked at Lloyd and found his son was still in the midst of meditating, his eyes closed and his head bowed.

"Lloyd, you can stop focusing now."

Lloyd didn't answer.

"... Lloyd?" Frowning, the elder seraphim came closer to the lilting form of Lloyd and examined his son closely. Lloyd wasn't in a serious trance, nor was he concentrating in a deep sense.

Lloyd had fallen asleep.

Typical.

"LLOYD!"

"I didn't eat the pie, I swear-" Lloyd jolted back into the world of the conscious and hyperventilated as his eyes focused back on reality. "I... oh."

"Hello." Kratos greeted crossly. "Nice of you to rejoin me. Have a nice nap?"

"... no." Lloyd tried to kick at the ground, but missed by a foot. "The professor was yelling at me for stealing a pie. Of course she made the pie, so I should have known that her yelling about me eating it wouldn't have ever happened in anywhere by a dream."

"I see. Then perhaps I can rectify that and yell at you for something you did in reality."

"I didn't mean to." The skinny six year old protested. "I was trying to concentrate and think about my wings -which didn't have anything to do with hot wings, by the way- and it just sort of happened. I didn't exactly get much sleep last night anyway. And, it's not like that wing exercise... hey, it actually worked! And I didn't even need to hit myself in the head."

Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose.

"... lovely. Now, try flapping your wings and lift yourself further from the ground. Don't go too high too quickly, because you will lose your balance if you rush." Lloyd nodded intently and shut his eyes with a snap. From where he stood, Kratos watched Lloyd work intently, just in case the small boy decided for another quick cat nap. However, Lloyd appeared to be wiser than the man gave him credit, because his wings began to slowly but surely float up and down. However, the flapping increased in pace until Lloyd looked very akin to a spastic hummingbird.

"Lloyd... have you always had that problem?" Kratos tilted his head to the side in mild curiosity. Lloyd wrinkled his nose.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "What problem?"

"Your wings are -how do I put this delicately- your wings appear to be hyperactive. Were you aware of your apparent... trait? Or do you enjoy appearing to be a hummingbird with an energy problem?"

Lloyd looked over his shoulder at his wings and groaned.

"Great, that's just great." He groused. "I don't flap. I flutter."

Kratos' eyebrows lifted towards the clouds.

"I understand your concern, but I don't think you understand exactly what I am trying to tell you-"

"No, no, I get it." Lloyd groaned. "I'm not supposed to flutter. What guy 'flutters'? You don't and Yuan doesn't and not even Yggdrasill flutters. My wings are girly. I have girly wings." With a defeated face in hand, Lloyd stared down at the ground and heaved a defeated sigh.

"And they aren't even pink."

"You'll live." Kratos interjected while rolling his eyes. "I was not objecting to that. Merely slow the pace of your wings down. You will burn too much energy otherwise. The 'fluttering' as you so called it, is not to be concerned. Small wings tend to do that."

Lloyd's dismayed expression grew more severe.

"... small?"

"Yes, but do not fret. I can see you wish to fret by just looking at you. They will most likely increase in span when you return to your original form. Do not give me that look."

"Yeah, right." Lloyd frowned. "Until then, I'm Mister Small Wings. That's the name Colette came up for a stunted budgie. I don't want to be a stunted budgie."

"Like I said before, you'll live." Blue mana unleashed in a cluster brought forth his own pair and Kratos assessed his charge. It was really amazing, how far Lloyd had come in his own way since he had first begun. Having barely known anything other than his own self taught techniques, he had done quite well for himself. Yes, he still had a long way to go, and yes, his attention span was still quite limited, but perhaps that was part of his innocence that just refused to die. Despite what he'd seen during his travels, Lloyd wouldn't relinquish his initial innocence when it came to the essential goodness of other people. He knew it was horrible to say, but in a way he deeply envied that in Lloyd, as he had in Anna and originally Mithos. How he envied them, but he couldn't bring it within himself to deny that part of reality. Reality was harsh and unforgiving and he out of everyone knew that fact all too well.

Maybe he'd lived too long. He was too jaded and only someone like Lloyd could truly fix the mistakes Kratos had allowed to spring forth. He was certain of it. The last great hope the worlds had of ever coming together in the end was Lloyd.

"Now that you are fully lucid, we will begin." Kratos shook himself out of his thoughts and faced Lloyd. "The first thing you need to work on is how to keep oneself aloft while stationary."

"Um... aren't I already doing that?" Lloyd dangled his legs back and forth for added effect.

"You are, but we aren't in the lower parts of the stratosphere, now are we?"

"If five inches off the ground isn't the stratosphere, then no."

Shaking his head in exasperation, Kratos pointed to a cloud that resembled a rabbit and flew upwards. Lloyd followed close behind, his wings fluttering like mad until they both reached the rabbit. Kratos stopped when he floated just underneath the underbelly, but Lloyd overshot his aim and went right through where the rabbit's eye would have been. He reemerged thirty seconds later, sopping wet and thoroughly annoyed.

"Y'know when people say that clouds are like big balls of cotton candy?" Lloyd grabbed a handful of hair and squeezed the water from it. "They lied."

"I'm sure whomever told you that wasn't speaking on literal terms, Lloyd." The seraphim sword master responded coolly. "While you're drying yourself off, attempt to adjust yourself in the air by moving up and down, side to side, but still while facing me."

"Why?"

"Evasion practice."

"Oh." Lloyd began shifting from left to right, diagonally, up and down and any combination of the two. Kratos smirked ever so slightly. In a way, it almost looked like someone was using him to mark an invisible cosmic word jumble.

"Good, very good." He said approvingly after ten minutes. "That should be enough. The next thing we are going to cover is moving forwards and backwards."

"Oh, so you mean actual flying and not me looking like someone's using my back to wash an invisible window?"

Kratos' eyes narrowed into slits.

"Lloyd, what did I say about being snippy?"

The brown haired boy peered sheepishly down at his shoes.

"... not to."

"Then you would do well to remember that." Kratos pointed to a small copse of trees right next to the neighboring cornfield. "What I want you to do is to fly out in that direction until you reach the edge of the cornfield, then turn and come back straight here. Do you think you can manage that?"

"What?" Lloyd looked positively affronted. "Of course I can do that. You just watch." Taking a deep breath, Lloyd swung around so he faced the cornfield and took off with unbridled gusto, his wings beating against his back at a rate Kratos hadn't thought possible. Kratos watched as Lloyd flew, albeit a bit crooked, towards the trees and reached the line between them and the cornfield.

"Now pivot your wings to an angle and make a turn!" The seraphim called out to Lloyd.

However, Lloyd didn't pivot his wings. He didn't pivot at all.

He just kept going.

And going.

And going.

In fact, he didn't look he was going to stop anytime soon. Kratos russet eyes widened.

"Lloyd, turn around! Come back!"

"I can't come back, I don't know how it works!" Lloyd shrieked back in a panic, his wings speeding up with each passing second. "Kratos, I can't stop! How do you brake these things?" In a moment of sheer hysteria, the bantam boy tried to use his own weight to counter the speed of the flight of hell, but all that did was flip him upside down and make the wings fly faster, which in turn caused him to let out a completely undignified wail.

Kratos suddenly felt a wave of depression sink in. There went the last great hope for the world, flying upside down out of control and screaming like a girl.

"Before I taught him how to go, I probably should have taught him how to stop. I'd better go catch him before he flies into a tree."

* * *

"Well, that was certainly an interesting first flight." Kratos commented as he touched down in the center of the deserted field, Lloyd tucked firmly under his arm. "As well as an interesting first landing." Lloyd pried himself from the seraphim's grip, landed on the ground and dusted himself off.

"If we'd been somewhere else, I woulda had a fine landing." Lloyd retorted bitterly, pulling out a cornhusk lodged in his chestnut tresses. "It's not my fault they put a cornfield in my way."

"Fine?" Kratos arched a sardonic eyebrow. "I had to pull you off of a scarecrow."

Lloyd glowered at the dirt. It had taken twenty minutes of searching, but Kratos managed to find his wayward charge's trail when Lloyd had flown out into the ether, completely unable to stop or turn or really do anything more than scream. However, that trail eventually led to a crop circle like pattern in the middle of a corn field with Lloyd in the center, hanging off a scarecrow. Well, that was only half accurate. Lloyd was hanging _upside down_ from the scarecrow having gotten the seat of his pants snagged by the wooden stake propping up the scarecrow's arm.

Kratos probably would have been able to keep his wry amusement safely underground if Lloyd hadn't been flailing about like a beached flounder when he'd finally located him.

"I can't believe you laughed at me." The skinny swordsman muttered. "Out of all the times to prove you're not a robot, you chose that time of all times to laugh, and I mean really laugh. You couldn't breathe. I was upside down, having a really bad time of it and you laughed. Now I've got a hole in my pants and you almost split the seams in yours before you finally deigned to help me. I thought you were gonna leave me there forever."

The elder swordsman's eyebrows creased. There was a certain amount of truth in that he'd had found Lloyd's predicament facetious, but Lloyd was surely inflating the details. Kratos had laughed, but not to that agree and not nearly as long as Lloyd had described. Surely an overactive imagination was to blame in this instance. However, he didn't blame Lloyd for over exaggerating. It was, after all, his nature to do so, being both young and highly embarrassed an inanimate object such as a scarecrow had managed to best him while in flight.

"It wasn't that severe, Lloyd."

"Yeah, for most people. But you're not most people. You're Kratos. Mister 'I have no sense of humor and I like to stare blankly at people because I want to see if I can make their brains explode by just thinking about it', Kratos. You just don't DO that." Lloyd shifted his russet eyes towards Kratos' own pair. "It was like you broke or something."

Frowning, Kratos regarded Lloyd's fearsomely piercing, yet strangely unanimous stare.

"Am I really such a taciturn statue that you perceive me to be in need of repair when displaying any sort of emotion beyond irritated disdain?" The seraphim swordsman inquired.

"Yeah."

"... ah." Kratos' expression grew acerbated. "On that note, I believe your landing is in desperate need of perfecting, or rather, executing without attacking an innocent scarecrow in the process. Perhaps then it will be 'fine' as you so aptly put it."

"My landing was fine." said Lloyd. "It's just the braking I need. Other than that it was fine."

"You would really call your endeavors in the cornfield fine?"

The slender six year old shrugged.

"'Pends on what your definition of 'is' is."

Kratos restrained himself from sighing pedantically and rolling his eyes.

"Perception versus reality." He commented lightly, folding his arms against his chest. "Your perception, much like your landing, is skewed."

Kicking the dust again, Lloyd's expression grew sour and he looked away.

"Yeah, very funny." he muttered, "I bet _your_ first flight was just perfect."

"Actually, no it wasn't."

Lloyd's head shot upwards, as did his eyebrows.

"It wasn't?" The skinny swordsman practically gaped at the elder seraph. "Why not? What happened?"

Biting back yet another sigh, Kratos gestured over to a space shaded by a few trees. If he was going to take a trip down memory lane, he might as well allow Lloyd a brief respite in the process.

"As I was a fully grown adult at the time I ascended, I had a difficult time balancing my own body weight on the seemingly fragile wings. Wings are a much different platform than the ground to keep one's 'footing', so to speak." He began, Lloyd hot on his heels. "Normally my balance is unmatched, but in a new environment such as the air, I could not rely on the balance usually employed by the legs. Flying is more of an abdominal balancing act, employing more of the torso and back as a stabilizer, unlike normally walking, running or shifting on the earth."

"You had a hard time balancing?" asked Lloyd, thoroughly amazed. "But you don't seem the type to not be able to balance."

"I rarely have difficulty when on the ground, even when on the ice, but as the air employed a different set of mechanisms, it took a while to really get the reigns of the subject matter. However, unlike you, I had no teacher or help of any kind. The most I had was Yuan and as you know, when it comes to actually being helpful, he is severely lacking."

"Yeah, that's true." The slight swordsman nodded. "He's four different kinds of unhelpful in a two pound bag. So, what happened? What went wrong?"

"During my first excursion into the air, I was caught up in a gust of wind and ended up flying backwards. By the time I managed to pivot myself so I was facing the direction I intended to fly, I was traveling a velocity at which I could no longer control my trajectory."

"... and?"

"I flew into the side of a windmill."

Lloyd let out a snort, then a snicker, and then fell onto the grass, laughing his little head off. Kratos' cheek twitched a little, but other than that he remained silent. There wasn't much he could say really. What he could do was wait it out until Lloyd's hysterics died down to the point he could breathe properly again before continuing.

"Who's the one laughing now?" Kratos raised an eyebrow, peering down his nose at the cackling rendition of what was left of his mentally seventeen, yet physically six year old son.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. But that's just... too funny." Lloyd managed through gasps as he pulled himself back up. "I pictured it in my head and it's comical to even imagine something like that happening to you. You always seem so perfect with everything you do."

"Why do you suppose I am telling you this, Lloyd?" The elder seraph picked Lloyd up by his collar and half carried, half dragged him over to the tree, where he was then unceremoniously dumped. "I am not disclosing this information solely because I enjoy being the brunt of a humorous anecdote. I am telling you this because you should know that no one starts off as an expert. Everyone begins as an amateur and must work at what they desire to come to fruition."

"So you think I could eventually get better at this whole flying thing?" Lloyd adjusted himself against the trunk of the tree and pulled a twig out from under his seat. "Cornfields included?"

"Yes. The only thing separating you and I is experience."

"And bigger wings."

"Yes, I suppose that does factor in somewhat." Kratos relented. "Still, work hard at what you wish and eventually it will come to pass. The dividing point of success and failure is between those who give up at the very beginning and those who discipline themselves to persevere."

"You mean people who are really stubborn?" Lloyd flashed him a wide toothy grin. "'Cause I've got that in spades."

"That much is obvious. However, stubbornness is only as good as the person who applies it. Perseverance in itself is simply applied stubbornness coupled with purpose."

"So if I keep at it, flying will get easier. Does that mean we're going to talk about how to stop when flying then?" The skinny boy asked hopefully. "I'd like to learn how to brake, if that's okay with you." Kratos smirked a tad, and looked back out onto the deserted arena that was the field.

"I suppose I have no other alternative. After all, there won't always be a scarecrow for you to cling."

Lloyd scowled.

* * *

"For the last time, I don't HAVE clearance." Regal repeated hotly at the receptionist behind the desk. "However, if you were to call George like I repeatedly suggested, perhaps we could sort this out-"

"Sorry, kid." The receptionist shook her head and pointed at the sign above her. "No clearance, no going up to the higher levels. That's the rules." Everyone groaned. For the past twenty minutes, they, or rather Regal and Raine, had been arduously attempting to get into the archive rooms of the Lezareno company in order to locate exactly where the zircon had been stored. Without it, the recipe for Colette's cure would be completely useless. However, at the rate things were heading, breaking in through the window would probably have been more time saving. Yes, it would technically be a felony, but at least it would be an efficient felony.

And efficiency was seriously lacking where they were.

"So you say. And just what blustering idiot came up with inane assortment of travesties that are passing as rules?" The petite president demanded tersely.

"That would be the president of the Lezareno company, Duke Regal Bryant."

Regal's eye twitched. From over his shoulder, Zelos snickered, snaked an arm around the collar of the petite president's suit coat of green crushed velvet and winked.

"The truth always hurts, doesn't it?"

Regal kicked him in the shins with his heel.

"It does now." Sheena grinned as Zelos rolled about on the floor, clutching his shins and squawking that he'd been maimed.

"Look, if all you're going to do is waste my time, why don't you go wait over there." The secretary pointed to a set of red sofas. "Maybe if you're lucky, the security will take you to the daycare center."

Thoroughly aggravated, Regal bristled at the suggestion and was about to say something particularly rude, but Raine yanked at his arm and pulled him away. The others followed, Sheena dragging Zelos by the back of his collar and they grudgingly headed for the seating area the secretary had suggested.

"When I am at my full size and age again, my first act is going to use my influence to outlaw bureaucracy." Regal muttered angrily once they were safely out of earshot from the help desk. "'Help desk'. Hah. A laudable title, my posterior."

"That's just the hormones talking." Sheena consoled, patting his shoulder. "Give it a minute, they'll cool down."

"Is that what this is?" He asked exhaustedly dropping into an armchair and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Normally something like that wouldn't have bothered me whatsoever, but as of late, I seem to be lacking in tolerance for utter stupidity."

"Yep, that's hormones." Genis nodded. "They kinda interfere with the logical workings of your brain and then before you know it, you'll start acting like Lloyd. If it gets really bad, you'll end up like him." He hooked a thumb at Zelos, who was still playacting on the floor like he was seconds away from death.

In truth, he might have been if the expression on the Professor's face was any indication of her intent.

"Perish the thought." Regal grimaced.

"Zelos' scene aside, how do you plan on getting us inside then, if the receptionist will not grant us access?" Raine carefully stepped over the twitching pile of Zelos on the floor and folded her arms. "I highly doubt we will be able to bribe her with the ice cream coupons the mascot at the front gate gave us."

"Yeah, that wouldn't work, I don't think." Genis added. "Besides, you said I could get an ice cream cone with those. You're not backing out now, Sis."

"You'll get your ice cream AFTER we retrieve the zircon. Anyway, we need a way to get in that doesn't involve going to the front desk. I am a bit surprised George did not leave you with a code clearance card, Regal."

"As am I." Regal replied with a sigh. "At one point, I believe he might have mentioned doing so, but if he had, or simply forgot to give me one, I do not know."

"I don't think you need to worry about that." said Zelos, still on the floor with his head flopped on an arm, and pointed at the elevator doors. "The man of the hour has arrived."

They all looked up. Exiting the doors, arms laden with paperwork and files, stood George. It took them all of three seconds to cross the room and by that point, George had already noticed the large circle of prepubescents surrounding him like he was the focus of a cult sacrifice.

"Master Regal. How nice for you to join us again." George greeted and set his various paperwork upon the receptionist's desk. "While I am indeed pleased to see you again, what has called you back to the Lezareno company so soon?"

"It's lovely to see you too, George." Regal replied, shooting the awestruck secretary a subtle glare. "And as for my return, I wish it was of a leisurely sort, but unfortunately that is not the case."

"Oh?" George blinked curiously. "Might I be of assistance?"

"Actually yes. Do you perchance remember when the last shipment of Zircon was dated?"

"Not off the top of my head, no. However, if we check the archive room, I am certain we will find out." George turned back to the elevator and gestured them to follow. Having wasted too much time as it was, they all trotted hurriedly in George's wake, Regal and the front and Zelos bringing up the rear. When the final occupant passed by the otherwise stunned receptionist, Zelos looked her way and flashed her a smug, wolfish grin.

"Burn."

* * *

"If what George's information is accurate, the zircon should be somewhere in this filing cabinet." Regal yanked open the drawer on the top of the filing cabinet while the other shorter members of the team pulled on the other drawers.

"Alright, I get that you have some of the zircon, sure." Zelos said after yanking his fingers out of the way just in time to barely miss being pinched by a wayward drawer. "But why a filing cabinet?"

"Normally samples of magical substances would be kept in a specialized facility designed to handle and control the environment to avoid accidents, but with Zircon, that is not necessary. Zircon is not that potent on its own. In fact, it is no more effective in a neutral setting than a common garden rock." The professor responded, rifling through a spare file, sighing and stuffing it back into its home. "And as zircon is a particularly memorable name, probably the archivist figured a filing cabinet would be easier to locate the sample in an alphabetized setting than in a large storehouse filled with identical boxes."

"But why bother keeping it?" Sheena asked. "I'm happy they did, for obvious reasons, but it's not like this sort of disease that Colette's got pops up every day. What would the Lezareno company need with keeping samples of all the stuff it's sold? That's borderline hoarding."

"There is a very fine line between hoarding and tax preparation." Regal replied. "Aha, here it is."

Reaching in a hand, the petite president retrieved the small disclike piece of Zircon and held it out for the others to see. Genis' eyes widened and he reached for it, but before he got a chance to lay a finger on it, the sample was gone.

"What the hell?" Zelos gaped. "Where'd it go? You didn't drop it, did you?"

"Of course not." Regal shook his head, equally perplexed. "You didn't see me do so, did you?"

"I didn't see anything, that's kinda the point-"

"Well, well, what have we here?"

Everyone wheeled around on the spot. On the far side of the room, Kuchinawa leaned up against the side of the wall, tossing the zircon up and down like a skipping stone.

"Kuchinawa!" Sheena gasped in utter perturbation. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." said Kuchinawa coolly, still lazily catching the zircon without looking at it. "Though, I must say, this is a new low for you, Sheena. Not only could you not control Volt, you decided to relive Mizuho's pain by adapting the look of the murderer of most of the clan. How fitting."

Sheena turned blotched scarlet and looked at her shoes.

"You can't talk to her like that!" Genis yelped angrily, his bracers snapping against his bony shoulders. "She didn't mean for it to happen, and it's not her fault she's like this right now."

"Oh, whose fault was it then?" Kuchinawa mocked in a singsong voice. "Was it the summon spirit? Or was it just being too weak? Take your pick."

"Are you still on about that?" Zelos demanded disbelievingly. "The whole 'oh my village was destroyed' crap you've been spouting since forever and a day ago? Get a new tune, because this one's getting real old, real fast."

"You DARE mock the massacre of Mizuho-"

"Yep, pretty much." The cherubim chosen shrugged, taking a few steps towards him. "'My life's unfair', 'my life sucks', 'it's your fault', blah, blah. That's all you ever say, when you really boil down to it. And yeah, it does suck. Life can suck pretty badly sometimes. And yeah, people died. It happened, the world gets it. But you're missing a pretty crucial point there. A pretty big one."

"She was seven years old, you prick. I seriously doubt you'd be able to do much more than wet yourself if you'd had to do something like that. If anyone's life sucked at that moment, it was hers and you can't possibly say you suffered the same amount she did. Yeah, you lost your parents, but you weren't there. I bet watching everyone you know die was a hell of a lot worse than just hearing about it later."

"Regardless, she was at fault, she couldn't control Volt and she couldn't do what her village needed of her."

"What part of 'she was seven' don't you get?" Genis added hotly, pointing his kendama at where Kuchinawa's nose probably was behind his mask. "That's a bit much for somebody who has barely mastered arithmetic, y'know. Now how about you hand over that thing you just took and we'll let you leave with all your body parts still attached. Or would you prefer I char them off?"

Kuchinawa laughed at the meager threat and glanced down at the zircon.

"Oh, you want this, do you?" He mused offhandedly. "Well, if it's so important to you, maybe I'll just smash it-"

"No!" Sheena yelled in a panic, having finally shaken herself out of her memory induced stupor. "We need that!"

"If you have any sense of decency, you'll hand that over." The professor pointed to the zircon. "If not, an innocent victim's life will be forfeit."

"I don't see how that's my problem." shrugged Kuchinawa.

"Have you no honor? No sense of empathy?" Regal interjected in utter repulsion. "No desire to better yourself through acts of charity towards an unwell victim of circumstance?"

"No."

"You heartless-" Genis brandished his kendama and made to step forward, but a hand caught his shoulder and held him back. His eyes whipped around angrily towards the source of the hand, but he paused when he noticed it had been Zelos who had stopped him.

"If that's the way you wanna play it, fine." He murmured in a low voice, one not suited for someone who looked as young as he did at that precise moment. "We tried asking nicely, but if you wanna be the jerk in all of this, I suppose we'll just have to resort to plan B."

With nary a warning, Zelos launched himself at the ninja like a pouncing panther, grabbed onto his middle and latched his fingers into whatever he could reach.

"What the hell are you doing, you little runt!" Kuchinawa yelled as Zelos swung about on his middle, all the while clawing and trying to bring the elder male down. He scraped and dug and scratched, all the while trying to get to the Zircon gripped in his fist.

Genis stared. So did the Professor, Regal, Presea and Sheena. Zelos had just attacked Kuchinawa and for all sakes and purposes, he was _winning_.

"Well, what are you all waiting for, an invitation?" The clinging chosen demanded at his friends in the middle of his grappling, "Help me already!"

"I suggest we attack." Presea dropped her axe to the ground and she, along with the remaining five, dashed forward and leapt into the proverbial fray. Some, like the Professor and Regal, opted to stay low to the ground and attack the shins, but others, like Presea, Genis, Sheena and for the most part, Zelos climbed all over Kuchinawa like angry spiders, pinching and kicking all the way. Kuchinawa screamed and swore, trying to pull off the cluster of attacking children, but every single time he managed to pry one off his person, another latched on with unmitigated fervor.

From a distance, he looked like a kid coatrack.

"I can't get the zircon away from him!" Genis grabbed at the hunk of zircon still embedded within the ninja's grip, but couldn't manage to get the darned thing loose, no matter what he tried.

"Hang on a minute!" Zelos grabbed hold of Kuchinawa's flailing arm and sank his fangs right into the fabric coated flesh. Kuchinawa let out a bloodcurdling scream, but that stunned him just long enough for Genis to pry the zircon from his fingers.

"I've got it!" The minuscule mage beamed, tucking it into his trouser pocket. A glorious cheer erupted from the others, but they didn't stop their attack just yet. There was still Kuchinawa to deal with and from the looks of things, he was VERY unhappy.

"We've no choice other than to dispose of him." Presea commented, barely missing a swipe at her pigtails as she climbed over Kuchinawa's shoulders and boxed his ears.

"You are NOT committing a murder in my storage room." Regal admonished tersely, landing a hit right near the ribs. "I just had the carpets cleaned."

Shrugging, Presea whacked Kuchinawa on the back of his head with her fist, finally rendering him unconscious. Once the lifeless form of Kuchinawa hit the floor with a flump, his attackers removed themselves from the fray and observed the damage in a sort of adrenaline induced silence.

"Well... that went well." Zelos commented amusedly after a minute, sporting a black eye, but looking rather pleased with himself all the same.

"Not really, but I gotta say, that was really, REALLY satisfying." Genis sniffed, his nose bloody. "I've been wanting to do that for ages."

"I agree." The Professor nodded. "However, now that we have him, what do we do with him?"

"Is skinning him an option?" Genis asked hopefully.

"No."

"... darn."

"Would that be appropriate?" Presea pointed to an old utilities closet. "That would be a sufficient space to store his lifeless body." While from a distance the cupboard had looked just a mite too cramped at first, with some shoving and a dislocation here and there, they managed to stuff Kuchinawa into the closet and shut the door, locking it from the outside.

"... I can't believe we just locked Kuchinawa in a closet. He's the master of deception and we just locked him in a closet." Sheena commented numbly, jiggling the handle and peering into the lock to make absolutely sure the lock had latched.

"Yeah, well now he's master of the closet." Zelos snaked an arm around her shoulders and forcibly steered the acute assassin away from the door. "Don't worry it about it, griddle cakes. He'll be fine. Somebody'll find him. Eventually."

"You think so?" Sheena looked at the closet nervously. The chosen casanova to be heaved a sigh. She'd been so rattled by what Kuchinawa said, she hadn't even grasped that he'd called her another euphemism for being flat chested. A true waste of his talents, surely.

"What's with the grim look? Of course I'm sure." He replied cheerily. "Right, guys?" The second grade swordsman cast a hinting look at the rest of his compatriots.

"Statistically speaking, there is a high probability his presence will be revealed." Presea stated, gently patting Sheena's shoulder. "You need not fret."

"That.. doesn't really make me feel better, but thanks for trying, Presea."

"You are welcome."

"Presea's right. Of course he will be found, there's tons of people working around here." Genis piped in right behind her. "Now whether or not he'll be found alive-"

"Genis, how about we get you that ice cream now."

"But sis, I didn't-"

"NOW, Genis." Raine grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and frogmarched him towards the door.

"I wouldn't let what either of them said bother you, Sheena." Regal folded his arms as he watched the Professor pry Genis' fingers from the doorframe. "This room is cleaned from top to bottom every monday as per protocol. You needn't concern yourself."

"... okay." Sheena nodded, though she didn't look very convinced and shook Zelos' arm off her shoulder. "If that's right then... alright. Good then." Letting out a shallow exhale of breath, she trodded over to the door, and left the archive room. Presea checked the lock on the door in a silentious fashion, picked up her discarded axe and left as well, humming a little tune under her breath, which left Zelos and Regal as the sole remaining occupants.

"Man, that guy really got to her, didn't he?" The younger of the two whistled.

"Are you that surprised?" The petite President inquired. "Obviously her history concerning Kuchinawa and her village has ingrained a deep sense of guilt and regret that should not be contained within one so young."

"Yeah, I guess." Zelos shrugged, but as he did, a thought sprang into his head.

"Hey... hey Regal."

"Hm?"

"You said that this room is cleaned Monday, right?"

"I did."

"What day is it now?"

Regal smirked.

"Thursday."

* * *

**Woo, finally done. Also, just a heads up, the final episode of the ToS animation has been dated at coming out October 24th, 2012, so keep an eye out. Anyway, please review and keep those fingers crossed for oyako!**


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